The Civil war was the culmination of long-standing differences and tensions over a wide range of issues: economic policies, cultural values, the extent and reach of the Federal government, and, most importantly, slavery. Inevitably, these differences sparked a conflict that devastated the South and ended with the emancipation of more than 3.9 million enslaved Black Americans.
The publication of the 1852 novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” turned many Northerners against slavery. The Supreme Court decision in the 1857 case of Dred Scott ruled that enslaved people were not U.S. citizens, and abolitionists led by John Brown tried to instigate a slave insurrection at Harpers Ferry. In 1860, the Republican party was formed to combat the spread of slavery. When the party won a majority of the electoral votes and Abraham Lincoln became president, several Southern states, including South Carolina, seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America.
But even after secession, the Civil war was far from over. The Union continued to maintain forts, barracks and naval shipyards throughout the South, and many Regular Army officers clung tenaciously to their posts. The Civil War also had an intense home front. A large number of Northerners resented the war. These “Copperheads” organized secret societies and tried to embarrass the government by discouraging enlistments and opposing the draft.