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 consisted of eleven states fighting the Union for the right to still own slaves in the South. Once the Confederates broke away 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 taking a single Southern state with him, many white Southern leaders felt it was the only option for the Southern states to secede from America to become the Confederate States of America. They also felt they were losing representation to promote pro-slavery acts and policies that they had been able to promote before Abraham Lincoln was elected president of America. Abraham Lincoln later declared the acts of the Confederacy illegal. He asked Congress for 500,000 troops to quell what he thought was an aggressive rebellion. In April 1861 war began between each of these sides, more than 600,000 people were killed and millions were injured during the four years of this war. Many violent battles occurred in the south. The Union also nearly collapsed due to Confederate forces, which could have changed the outcome of the war. The outcome of this war would determine the kind of nation America would become. CIVIL WAR The Civil War began on April 12, 1861. The war was between two sides, the South and the North. These parties were also known as Confederate and Union. The main issue of this war was about slavery, as well as the extension of slavery into the western territories. Once Abraham Lincoln was elected the new president… half of the document… January 1, 1863. This proclamation freed all slaves in the ten states that were still in rebellion due to the war. Additionally, this proclamation allowed free slaves to join the United States service to help fight the Civil War. This proclamation was estimated to apply three to four million slaves. After the war the United States began reconstruction first in the South, ending slavery in the United States. Additionally, changes were made to the Constitution that remain in effect today after the end of the Civil War. These changes to the Constitution allowed for the reunification of the North and South, a guaranteed form of government for the former Confederate states, and permanently ended slavery in the United States. This war changed the way it determined the outcome of what America would be like; also thanks to this war slavery no longer exists in America.