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Some of our finest [ about ] Approved Articles Developed Articles (over 700) Article of the Week [ about ] Map depicting slave and free states during the war. The U.S. Civil War in the U.S. 1861-65, saw the Union (North), led by Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant defeat the breakaway Confederacy (South) led by Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee and end slavery. Reunion was accomplished by a difficult period of Reconstruction, 1865-1877, in which the freed slaves were given the right to vote. The war was between the United States (the "Union") and eleven Southern states that declared that they had a right to secession and formed the Confederate States of America, led by President Jefferson Davis. The thought "Cotton is King", meaning it was so powerful an economic force that European powers would help them win. The Union, led by Lincoln and the Republican Party, rejected any right of secession. They said they would not interfere with slavery inside the South, but would put it on the path to eventual extinction by preventing its expansion. Fighting began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Lincoln called for an invasion force to recapture the fort, and four more states, rejecting coercion, joined the Confederacy to make 11 in all. [more...] New Draft of the Week [ about ] Naval guns came into general use in the West in the 14th century. They replaced the tactics or ramming or boarding, and became the main naval weapon when it was realized they could sink an enemy ship some yards away, regardless of the wind. From 1500 to 1941 all the major fleets were built around platforms that could shoot bigger and more accurate guns. The aircraft carrier proved itself at the Battle of Pearl Harbor in 1941, ending the era. Naval guns are now used primarily in defense against small boat or missile attacks. [more...]