The Civil War 1861–1865

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was fought between the Union (Northern states) and the Confederacy (Southern states). It was the deadliest war in American history and ultimately ended slavery in the United States. This lesson covers the key events, turning points, and consequences of the war for AQA GCSE History.

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The Two Sides

	Union (North)	Confederacy (South)
President	Abraham Lincoln	Jefferson Davis
Capital	Washington D.C.	Richmond, Virginia
Population	~22 million	~9 million (including ~3.5 million enslaved people)
Industry	Highly industrialised; 90% of US manufacturing	Largely agricultural; few factories
Army	Larger army; better supplied	Smaller but highly motivated; excellent generals (e.g. Robert E. Lee)
Navy	Strong navy; could blockade Southern ports	Weak navy; relied on blockade runners
Railroads	22,000 miles of track	9,000 miles of track
Advantages	Industry, population, navy, resources	Fighting on home territory; defensive war; strong military leadership

Exam Tip: When explaining why the Union won, always compare the resources of both sides. The North's industrial and population advantage was decisive in a long war of attrition.

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Key Events and Battles

Date	Event	Significance
April 1861	Fort Sumter	First shots of the war; Confederacy attacks the Union fort in South Carolina
July 1861	First Battle of Bull Run	First major battle; Confederate victory shocked the North into realising the war would not be quick
April 1862	Battle of Shiloh	Bloody battle in Tennessee; ~23,000 casualties; showed the war would be extremely costly
September 1862	Battle of Antietam	Bloodiest single day in American history (~22,000 casualties); Union strategic victory; gave Lincoln the opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation
January 1863	Emancipation Proclamation	Lincoln declared all enslaved people in Confederate states to be free; transformed the war into a fight against slavery; allowed Black men to join the Union army
July 1863	Battle of Gettysburg	Major turning point; Confederate General Lee's invasion of the North was defeated with ~50,000 casualties; the Confederacy never recovered
July 1863	Fall of Vicksburg	Union captured this key fortress on the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy in two
1864	Sherman's March to the Sea	Union General Sherman marched through Georgia, destroying everything in his path; broke the South's will and resources
April 1865	Lee surrenders at Appomattox	General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant on 9 April 1865, effectively ending the war
April 1865	Assassination of Lincoln	Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre on 14 April 1865; he died the next day

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The Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued on 1 January 1863, was one of the most important documents in American history.

• It declared that all enslaved people in the Confederate states were to be set free.
• It did not free enslaved people in the border states (slave states that had stayed loyal to the Union, such as Kentucky and Maryland).
• Its immediate practical effect was limited because it only applied to areas the Union did not control.
• However, its symbolic importance was enormous — it transformed the war into a moral crusade against slavery.
• It allowed approximately 180,000 African American men to serve in the Union army by the end of the war.

Exam Tip: The Emancipation Proclamation is a favourite exam topic. Make sure you can explain both its limitations (did not free all enslaved people) and its significance (changed the purpose of the war, allowed Black soldiers to fight, made European intervention on the South's behalf politically impossible).

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Why Did the Union Win?

Factor	Explanation
Industrial superiority	The North produced far more weapons, ammunition, uniforms, and supplies
Population	The North had more than double the South's free population, providing more soldiers and workers
Navy and blockade	The Union's naval blockade (Anaconda Plan) strangled the South's economy by preventing cotton exports and supply imports
Railroads	The North's superior railroad network allowed faster movement of troops and supplies
Leadership	Generals like Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman eventually outmatched Southern commanders
Emancipation	The Emancipation Proclamation prevented Britain and France from supporting the Confederacy and added ~180,000 Black soldiers to the Union army
Southern weaknesses	The Confederacy suffered from inflation, food shortages, desertion, and internal divisions over states' rights

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The Human Cost

The Civil War was devastating in its human cost:

• An estimated 620,000–750,000 soldiers died (more recent estimates suggest the figure may be higher).
• Hundreds of thousands more were wounded, many losing limbs.
• Disease killed more soldiers than combat — dysentery, typhoid, and malaria were rampant.
• The Southern economy was destroyed; cities like Atlanta and Richmond were left in ruins.
• Approximately 4 million enslaved people were freed.

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Key Figures

Person	Role
Abraham Lincoln	Union President; issued the Emancipation Proclamation
Ulysses S. Grant	Union general; led the army to victory; later became President
William T. Sherman	Union general; led the devastating March to the Sea
Robert E. Lee	Confederate general; brilliant tactician but ultimately defeated
Jefferson Davis	Confederate President
John Wilkes Booth	Assassinated Lincoln on 14 April 1865

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Expanded Specific Detail: Battles, Dates, and Numbers

AQA top-band responses on the Civil War depend on specific battlefield and political chronology. Fort Sumter was bombarded beginning 12 April 1861; the fort's commander, Major Robert Anderson, surrendered on 13 April. First Bull Run (Manassas) on 21 July 1861 ended in Confederate victory and shattered Northern expectations of a quick war. The Battle of Antietam on 17 September 1862 in Maryland was the bloodiest single day in American military history, producing approximately 22,717 casualties (dead, wounded, missing); the Union tactical draw was sufficient strategic success to allow Lincoln to issue the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on 22 September 1862, followed by the final proclamation on 1 January 1863. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought on 1–3 July 1863, producing approximately 51,000 casualties across both sides and ending General Robert E. Lee's second invasion of the North; Pickett's Charge on 3 July saw roughly 12,500 Confederate soldiers cross open ground and suffer over 50 per cent casualties. On 4 July 1863, the same day Lee retreated, the Confederate fortress at Vicksburg, Mississippi, surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant, splitting the Confederacy. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was delivered on 19 November 1863. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign culminated in the fall of Atlanta on 2 September 1864, and his March to the Sea from Atlanta to Savannah ran from 15 November to 21 December 1864. General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on 9 April 1865. Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre on 14 April 1865 and died at 7.22 a.m. on 15 April. Revised scholarship (J. David Hacker, 2011) estimates total Civil War deaths at approximately 750,000. Around 180,000 African American men served in the United States Colored Troops (USCT) by war's end.

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Extended Worked Paragraph: Level 4/5 Model Response

Question: Explain the significance of the Battle of Gettysburg and the Emancipation Proclamation for the outcome of the Civil War (8 marks).