From 1861 to 1865, America was in a civil war. The war was between the Confederacy and the Union and they were fighting over slavery. The Confederacy was made up of eleven states that fought against the Union for the right to still own slaves in the South. Once the Confederates seceded from America, they were known as the Confederate States of America. The rest of the other states were with the North and were known as the Union. Once Lincoln was elected president without carrying a single Southern state, many white Southern leaders felt that the Southern states had no choice but to secede from America to become the Confederate States of 'America. They also felt that they were losing representation to promote pro-slavery acts and policies that they were able to promote before Abraham Lincoln was elected President of America. After this, Abraham Lincoln declared the acts of the Confederacy illegal. He asked Congress for 500,000 troops to crush what he saw as an aggressive rebellion. In April 1861, the war between each of these camps began, more than 600,000 people were killed and millions were injured during the four years of this war. Many violent battles took place in the south. The Union also nearly collapsed because of Confederate forces, which could have changed the outcome of the war. The outcome of this war would determine what type of nation America would become. CIVIL WAR The civil war began on April 12, 1861. The war opposed two camps, the south and the north. These camps were also known as Confederate and Union. The main issue in this war was slavery, as well as the expansion of slavery into Western territories. Once Abraham Lincoln was elected the new president... middle of paper ...... January 1, 1863. This proclamation freed all slaves in the ten states that were still in rebellion because of the war. This proclamation also allowed free slaves to join the American service to help fight in the Civil War. This proclamation was estimated to apply to three to four million slaves. After the war, the United States began rebuilding the South by ending slavery throughout the United States. Changes were also made to the Constitution, which remain in effect today after the end of the Civil War. These constitutional changes brought about the reunification of the North and South, a guaranteed form of government for the former Confederate states, and the permanent end of slavery around the United States. This war change determined the outcome of what America would be; also thanks to this war slavery no longer exists in America.