<P> The American Civil War ( also known by other names ) was a war fought in the United States ( U.S. ) from 1861 to 1865 . The Civil War is the most studied and written about episode in U.S. history . Largely as a result of the long - standing controversy over the enslavement of black people , war broke out in April 1861 , when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina , shortly after United States President Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated . The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution . They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South , who advocated for states ' rights to uphold slavery . </P>
<P> The American Civil War ( also known by other names ) was a war fought in the United States ( U.S. ) from 1861 to 1865 . The Civil War is the most studied and written about episode in U.S. history . Largely as a result of the long - standing controversy over the enslavement of black people , war broke out in April 1861 , when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina , shortly after United States President Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated . The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution . They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South , who advocated for states ' rights to uphold slavery . </P>
when did the civil war start in american
when did the civil war start in american
April 1861
April 1861