Causes & Catalysts
This was the first state to secede from the Union in December 1860.
What is South Carolina?
The first shots of the Civil War were fired here in April 1861.
What is Fort Sumter?
He served as the first and only President of the Confederate States of America.
Who is Jefferson Davis?
This color was worn by the vast majority of Union soldiers, while the Confederates wore gray.
What is blue?
Lincoln issued this executive order on January 1, 1863, declaring all slaves in rebel states to be free.
What is The Emancipation Proclamation?
This 1854 Act allowed territories to vote on slavery, leading to a violent regional conflict known as "Bleeding" or "Bloody" this.
What is Kansas?
Fought in July 1861, this was the first major land battle of the war and a shocking Union defeat.
What is the First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas?
This famous Underground Railroad conductor served the Union army as a scout, spy, and nurse.
Who is Harriet Tubman?
This derogatory term was used by Northerners to describe fellow Northerners who sympathized with the South. It's also a type of snake.
What is a Copperhead?
Fought in Pennsylvania in July 1863, this largest battle of the war ended Lee's invasion of the North.
What is the Battle of Gettysburg?
This fiery abolitionist led a failed 1859 raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
Who is John Brown?
This September 1862 clash in Maryland remains the bloodiest single day in American military history.
What is the Battle of Antietam?
This Union general became the overall commander in 1864 and accepted Robert E. Lee's surrender.
Who is Ulysses S. Grant?
This technological innovation allowed news from the front lines to reach newspapers almost instantly
What is a the telegraph?
Lincoln used the strategic Union victory at this Maryland battle to finally issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
What is the Battle of Antietam?
This 1857 Supreme Court decision ruled that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in territories.
What is the Dred Scott Decision?
General Grant narrowly avoided disaster and secured a costly Union victory near this Tennessee church in April 1862.
What is the Battle of Shiloh?
Born into slavery, this brilliant orator and abolitionist pressured Lincoln to allow Black soldiers to fight for the Union.
Who is Jefferson Davis?
To fund the war effort, the U.S. government introduced this temporary tax on personal earnings for the first time in 1861.
What is income tax?
Lee officially surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at this Virginia courthouse location.
What is Appomattox Court House?
This 1852 anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe fueled abolitionist sentiment in the North.
What is Uncle Tom's Cabin?
General Grant secured control of the Mississippi River after a grueling 47-day siege of this fortress city.
What is Vicksburg?
This legendary Confederate general famously earned his nickname by standing "like a stone wall" at Bull Run.
Who is Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson?
Because the Union blockade cut off imports, Southern civilians famously used roasted chicory, acorns, and sweet potatoes as a substitute for this morning beverage.
This short, 272-word speech redefined the American democratic ideal, stating that a government "of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
What is the Gettysburg Address?