American Civil War Begins
April 12, 1861 · 19th Century
At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries under General P.G.T. Beauregard opened fire on the Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Major Robert Anderson's garrison of roughly 85 soldiers held out for 34 hours under bombardment before surrendering on April 13. No soldiers on either side were killed during the engagement itself. The attack prompted President Lincoln to call for 75,000 volunteers, which in turn led four additional Southern states to join the Confederacy. The ensuing war lasted four years and resulted in approximately 620,000 to 750,000 military deaths.
Key Figures
Abraham LincolnJefferson DavisRobert AndersonP.G.T. Beauregard
Locations
Washington, D.C.Fort SumterCharleston, South Carolina
Topics
american civil warfort sumtersouth carolina
Connected Events — 8 Connections
Rising sectional tensions over slavery forced Butterfield's southern route closure in 1861, shifting mail service northward Butterfield Overland Mail Route Founded
Created urgent political need to bind western territories to Union cause through rapid settlement of loyal citizens, making free land distribution strategically essential Homestead Act is Passed
Civil War created the political conditions and Confederate sympathizers like Booth who conspired to assassinate Lincoln President Lincoln Assassinated
The Hunley was built as part of Confederate efforts to break the Union naval blockade of Charleston during the American Civil War CSS H.L. Hunley Sinks USS Housatonic
Lincoln's election directly triggered secession of seven Southern states who viewed Republican victory as existential threat to slavery, making war inevitable when Confederacy fired on Fort Sumter Lincoln Elected
Cotton gin's expansion of slavery economics created the economic foundation that drove Southern secession and the conflict over slavery's expansion Cotton Gin Invented by Eli Whitney
Created the vast territorial expansion that intensified the slavery debate - each new state from the Mexican Cession had to be designated free or slave, ultimately breaking the Missouri Compromise balance and accelerating sectional conflict Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Civil War created a generation of experienced military officers like Custer and provided surplus military equipment and manpower that was redirected toward western expansion and Indian Wars after 1865 Battle of the Little Bighorn
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