How slavery shaped the american civil war

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, formed in 1861. How did slavery shape the war, and how can readers understand its effects on the conflict and its aftermath? The lessons trace slavery's influence through the war, emancipation, and Reconstruction.

2 articles, 1 video, 1 book · about 2 hr 11 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   the american civil war · Wikipedia · 60+ min read

   Confederate women during the Civil War focused on preserving the plantation, the central economic institution of the Old South. With so many men away at war, women were left with the land and the slaves. Reconstruction began during the American Civil War and continued until 1877. Its most important elements were the three "Reconstruction Amendments": the thirteenth outlawing slavery (1865), the fourteenth guaranteeing birthright citizenship, due process of law, and equal protection of the laws (1868), and the fifteenth prohibiting denial of voting rights "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude" (1870).

2. Read
   

   Civil War: Causes, Dates, Battles & Aftermath | HISTORY · HISTORY · 9 min read

   The American Civil War began in 1861 after decades of tensions over slavery, states' rights and westward expansion. The South's economy depended on large-scale farming and the labor of Black enslaved people, while northern agriculture was mostly small-scale; northern opposition to slavery's expansion led many southerners to fear that slavery, and thus the backbone of their economy, was in danger.

3. Watch
   

   The Civil War, Part I: Crash Course US History #20 · YouTube · 12 min watch

   John Green examines the causes of the American Civil War, why the North won, and whether its victory was inevitable. The video also discusses the motivations of those who fought, the North's advantages, the Confederacy's challenges, and the Union's strategy.

4. Book
   

   Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era · Bookshop.org

   Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson is a military, political, and social history of the American Civil War.

Book links are Bookshop.org affiliate links. Curiate may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you — Bookshop.org also gives a share to independent bookshops.