Causes:

• Slavery: Main cause, Southern states wanted to maintain slavery while Northern states opposed it.

• Economic differences: North was industrialized, South was agrarian.

• States' rights: South believed in states' rights over federal government.

Key Events:

• Fort Sumter: First shots of the war were fired here in 1861.

• Battle of Gettysburg: Turning point in the war, Union victory in 1863.

• Emancipation Proclamation: Issued by Lincoln in 1863, freed slaves in Confederate states.

Key Figures:

• Abraham Lincoln: President of the Union, led the country during the war.

• Jefferson Davis: President of the Confederate States of America.

• Ulysses S. Grant: Union general who played a crucial role in the Union victory.

Outcome:

• Union Victory: Ended in 1865 with the surrender of the Confederate army.

• Emancipation of Slaves: Led to the abolition of slavery in the United States.

• Reconstruction Era: Period following the war to rebuild the country and integrate the Southern states back into the Union.