CIVIL WAR

CIVIL WAR Often referred to as the War Between the States, the American Civil War (1861-1865) climaxed nearly a half-century of sectional conflict between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy). The institution of African-American slavery and, in particular, the question of the expansion of this institution into the western territories was certainly an im­portant "cause" of the war. As a result of the war, of course, the institution of slavery was abolished, the southern plantation system was crippled and the foundations of African American liberty were established. The war itself, therefore, must certainly be considered a watershed in the history of the black American. See also: COMPROMISE OF 1850, EMANCIPATION PROC­LAMATION, KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT, KING COTTON and MISSOURI COMPROMISE.