how did the civil war begin?
91501
Slaves are one of the reasons I'm thinking.
342863
Lee was the general. Davis was president when Lee joined up with the confeds.\n\nDouglas was a runaway slave. Not a president.\n\nClay died before the start of the war.\n\nDavis was it, then.
660227
The origins of the American Civil War lay in the complex issues of slavery, politics, disagreements over the scope of States' rights, Manifest Destiny, sectionalism, economic competition, modernization, and competing nationalisms of the Antebellum period. Although there is little disagreement among historians on the details of the events that led to war, there is disagreement on exactly what caused what and the relative importance. There is no consensus on whether the war could have been avoided, or if it should have been avoided.
675962
The main underlying cause for the Civil War was the freedom of states, and the rights of the states granted under the US Constitution, which by the way does not state that succession is illegal orr forbidden.  The powers of the Federal government are stated clearly in the Constitution, and any powers not specifically granted to the federal government are the responsibilities of the states.  Slavery did not become an issue until 1863 when the United States President Lincoln freed the slaves in a forgien country to keep France and Britian out of the war.  Odds are they would not have done anything to really help the South's war effort, but it was a good political move on Lincoln's behalf.
280933
They started right after the Civil War, by who I don't know, as a protest to the freeing of the slaves.  Then it grew from there.  See the following links...
602003
A civil war is a war in which parties within the same culture, society or nationality fight for political power or control of an area. Some civil wars are also categorized as revolutions when major societal restructuring is a possible outcome of the conflict. An insurgency, whether successful or not, is likely to be classified as a civil war by some historians if, and only if, organized armies fight conventional battles. Other historians state the criteria for a civil war is that there must be prolonged violence between organized factions or defined regions of a country (conventionally fought or not).\n\nUltimately the distinction between a "civil war" and a "revolution" or other name is arbitrary, and determined by usage. The successful insurgency of the 1640s in England which led to the (temporary) overthrow of the monarchy became known as the English Civil War. The successful insurgency of the 1770s in British colonies in America, with organized armies fighting battles, came to be known as the American Revolution. In the United States, and in American-dominated sources, the term 'the civil war' almost always means the American Civil War, with other civil wars noted or inferred from context.\n\nWhat is generally agreed upon is that factors such as nationalism, religion, and ideology, played little role in pre-modern civil wars. While it is quite common for nationalists to read past revolts, such as those of Scotland against England as early stirrings of nationalism, this is a somewhat suspect notion. Religion is more contentious, there are some civil wars that can be seen as fueled by religion in early years, such as the Jewish Revolts against Rome, but these can also be seen as revolts by a servile people against their oppressors or uprisings by local notables in an attempt to gain independence.
513258
Lincoln took office in March of 1861. Back then , the new President took office in March of the year following the elections. Now it's January. \n  But even before he took office, South Carolina called a convention and delegates voted to secede from the Union. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed. Then eventually also Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. These eleven states eventually formed the Confederate States of America.\n  At a convention of the CSA the next month, they elected Jefferson Davis their President and went on to establish a loose confederation of states. Notably, they added to their laws that Slavery would be legal in all of these States.
931964
It led to the end of the Civil War by forcing the industrial might of the north to be aligned against the seccessionists.  It was the provocation needed to bring the south back into the union fold.  Without Sumter, the seccession would've continued for a longer period than the four or five years that it did.\n\nYah, i get the 10 points, everyone else commented how it started the war, and not how it led to the end of the war.
836481
CIVIL WAR\n\n•  1860-61: Causes and Goals \n\nWhat caused the Civil War was hatred of slavery and disgust with abolitionism, anger at the power of slaveowners and fear of slave insurrections, plus southern nationalism and northern nationalism, plus a myriad of slights and insults, fears and forebodings. Historians still are trying to sort out all the causes. In order to understand the military strategies employed, it is necessary to see how the causes leaders perceived were tied to the war aims they pursued. Journalist Edmund Stedman revealed a common sentiment in the North:  more…..\n\nhttp://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/cw-1.htm\n\nFrom April 1861 to April 1865, a brutal civil war was fought between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America. The American Civil War is one of the most researched conflicts in modern history, yet many people still desire more knowledge about it.\n\nhttp://ehistory.osu.edu/uscw/index.cfm\n\nLETTERS & DIARIES\n\nhttp://ehistory.osu.edu/uscw/library/letters/index.cfm\n\nWEB SITES ON THE CIVIL WAR AND\nRECONSTRUCTION\n\nA comprehensive list of links for you to explore.\n\nhttp://www.cumbavac.org/Civil_War_and_Reconstruction.htm\n\nThe American Civil War Homepage \n\nhttp://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/warweb.html\n\nThe American Civil War Homepage gathers together in one place hypertext links to the most useful identified electronic files about the American Civil War (1861-1865). \n\nResearch/Informational Sites\n\nhttp://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/index.html\n\nhttp://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/nhihtml/cwnyhshome.html\n\nhttp://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/civwar.html\n\nhttp://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAcivilwar.htm\n\nhttp://www.civilwarhome.com/indexcivilwarinfo.htm\n\nhttp://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0173280-0&templatename=/article/article.html\n\nhttp://www.civil-war.net/\n\nhttp://members.aol.com/teachernet/\n\nhttp://www.refdesk.com/facthist.html\n\nTHE UNITED STATES COLORED TROOPS IN THE CIVIL WAR\n\nhttp://www.coax.net/people/lwf/usct.htm\n\nCivil War Links\n\nBattles\n\nhttp://www.civilwarhome.com/cwinfo2.htm#Battles\n\nLinks to Other Civil War Sites\n\nhttp://www.smplanet.com/civilwar/civilwar.html#Links\n\nFour score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.\n\nhttp://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm\n\nhttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd/\n\nINTRODUCTION TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.\n\nhttp://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/25.htm\n\nColored Troops in the American Civil War\n\n"Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship."\n\nhttp://www.americancivilwar.com/colored/colored_troops.html\n\nApproximately 180,000 African-Americans comprising 163 units served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and many more African-Americans served in the Union Navy. Both free Africans-Americans and runaway slaves joined the fight. On July 17, 1862, Congress passed two acts allowing the enlistment of African-Americans, but official enrollment occurred only after the September, 1862 issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.\n\nhttp://www.americancivilwar.com/colored/histofcoloredtroops.html\n\nColored Troops Medal of Honor Winners\n\nWilliam Carney\nPowhatan Beaty\nAndrew Jackson Smith\nAlexander Kelly\nChristian Fleetwood\nThomas Hawkins\nJames Gardiner\n\nAbraham Lincoln (1809-1865) \n\nAbraham Lincoln was born Sunday, February 12, 1809, in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was the son of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, and he was named for his paternal grandfather. Thomas Lincoln was a carpenter and farmer. Both of Abraham's parents were members of a Baptist congregation
801385
Sounds like homework... \nProbably should do some of you own thinking here... but here are a few ideas to get started with...\n(a) What sort of state were the former Confiderate states in? Had they used their manpower and economic resources to better economies or to fight the war?  What was their infrastructure like? Were there roads, towns, etc. left after Sherman's March to the Sea?  \n(b) What was the South's economic system like? With slaves freed, how was the economy (which required lots of manual labor on large plantations) going to function?  How were the white and black citizens in the south going to live together / work together after one class of people were literally property?\n\n(2) You might find starting information on Johnson's reconstruction plans here:\n(This is wikipedia, so you need better sources, but it's a start)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction
358974
Because the Victors (in the this case the Northern States) write the history books.  To that add another 146 years of revisioinist history ~ and the orgins etc get lost, to all but the true history buffs.\n\nBy definition it was NOT a civil war, for it to be a civil war, you would have to have one group trying to gain control of the government/nation from the other.  That is not what the South was attempting to do.  They did NOT want to seize control of the United States Government ~ they wanted to leave it ~ that is to say ~ succeed ~ and form a nation and a governmetn of their own.  \n\nAnoter mis-conception about the War Between The States is that it was fought over slawvery.  It wasn't.  It was fought over different opinoins about the Constitution and the interpetation of the same.  Its was fought over the same arguments that preceeded the actual war by decades, almost back to the foundation of the United States ~ which can be studied in the "Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers"  \n\nIf it had been at the time publically stated on either side, North or South, that the war was being fought over slavery, the average solider in the field on both sides would not have fought, this is evidenced in what historians refer to as "orginal documents" mainly lettters and such that were written by soliders on both sides of the conflict.  \n\nWhat the Northern solider was fighting for was to perserve the Union as it had exsisted prior to the succession of the Southern States, ~ they could care less about the slaves.  What the Southern solider was fighting for was to protect his "country" (The Confederate States of America) his home and family against a "foreign" invasion from another country.  They to, didn't care about the slaves ~ as you're average, typical Southerner didn't own slaves.  A very small percentage of the Southern population even owned a slave, with only about 1/10th of the Southern population owning 50 or more.\n\nWhat is left out of today's modern history books about the so-called "civil war" is that there were more than just a few "freed" Southern blacks, that owned other black slaves. And, they were not relatives ~ they were slaves, and were treated as slaves, and worked as slaves.  This is documented historial fact.
137893
My understanding was that the election directly caused the start of secession of states in the South from the union since Lincoln was known for his stand on slavery. The crisis was already at a boiling point by that time already due to non-handling/concessions on slavery of previous administrations.
223621
In the 1840s things started heating up between North and South over general states' rights against the rights of the federal government. The issues adressed generally dealt immediatly with slaves. New states admitted to the Union had to be judged as "slave states" (slaves allowed) or "free states" (slavery prohibited). \n\nBoth sides wanted new states to be whichever side they favored because it would give them more legislative power in the US Congress. This led to bloodshed in many areas, particularly in Kansas, which became known as "Bloody Kansas". \n\nIn 1861, South Carolina seceded from the Union (said they werent part of the US any more) and started seizing federal property, including arms and munitions. \n\nOther states started seceding as well. Soon the seceded states formed what they called the "Confederate States of America", which came to be headed by Jefferson Davis as President. They attacked Fort Sumner in South Carolina and seized the fort, capturing it's inhabitants. This was treason.\n\nAbraham Lincoln (President of the US) immediatly called for 75,000 troops to put down the uprising. Then the Civil War started, eventually involving millions of troops. 600,000 men eventually died in the conflict, and the US was shattered for decades after the war. Remember, this war was fought to unite the Union, NOT for slavery. In fact, slavery was only addressed in 1862 when Lincoln set forth the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the Confederate states. By 1863 there were armed black soldiers in Union armies, serving with distinction. In 1865 the CSA tried to use black troops, but they were destroyed before the plan could be implemented.\n\nIn 1865 the final Confederate forces surrendered (General Johnston was the last to surrender, but with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee the war was pretty much over). Richmond, VA, the Confederate capital, was seized. \n\nLincoln began steps to rebuild and reunite the US. He planned to be kind to the newly reunited South and not punish them for seceding. Before he could start, he was killed by a man named John Wilkes Booth. \n\nThe years following became years of anger and hate for Southerners. The North oppressed and punished Southern insurrection with high taxes and legal oversight. This period became known as Reconstruction, and it really only ended around the 1970s, one century after it started.\n\nHope I helped,\nThe Wise One\n\nP.S. For more information check out http://www.wikipedia.com\nThey are pretty good, but it's better to read books...however that takes more time than I think you want to spend.
823748
maybe because the rebels declared war on the united states???   the civil war was one of the most important and awesome victories the UNITED STATES has ever had.... just think if the confedarcy had won....we would all be stupid bubbas watching nascar and bangin our sisters
1030326
i would recommend this wikipedia site.\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_war\n\nhope this helps =)\n\n-unpredicktaboh-
764353
You can get information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_%281849-1865%29 for the information you are looking for.  I wont do your homework - but I will help you out (what kind of a history teacher would be then - lol)\n\nGood Luck!!!
284848
I don't have the time to list them for you, but here is a site that might help some...\n\n      http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761567354/Civil_War.html#p53