The conflict was a result of the contradiction that during the 19:th century arose between the agriculture states in the south and the industrial states in the north. The south was stamped by large landed estates and an aristocratic lifestyle while the north had a fast growing industry with big cities and a lot of immigrants. The north had a more civil point of view and because of their industry they wanted the protective duty to expand even further. The southern states opposed it because they were economicly dependent on exporting above all cotton and tobacco, instead they wanted a free market. At the same time the southern states persisted that they were dependent on Negro slavery for their production of agriculture products. In the north there were strong ideological demands on ending the slavery.

In 1854 the republicans made the issue (keeping the protective duty and put an end to slavery) their main program in the election to come. When Abraham Lincoln won the president election in 1860, South Carolina seceded from the union known as The United States of America. They were followed by first 6 more states in January 1861 (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Lousiana, Mississippi and Texas) and then by 4 more states in April and in May (Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennesse and Virginia).The western counties of Virginia did not want to secede, therefore they were in June admited into the Union. At a convention in Montgomery, Alabama, the seceding states were creating a state with the name "The Confederate States of America". This was taking place in February 1861. Jefferson Davis was named provisional president of the Confederacy until elections could be held. The capitol was later decided to be Richmond in Virginia.

The conflict escalated in February when the Confederacy demanded the Union to hand over their forts that now was on Confederated area. The Union refused and southern troops sieged them. At Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, a supply ship was forced to return to New York without been able to deliver its supplies. When Lincoln was installed as president on March 4, he said he would not accept the secession from the Union but he hoped to resolve the national crisis without warfare.

The first real war action took place on April 12 when Confederate batteries opened fire on Fort Sumter. On the next day the garrison surrendered to Brig.Gen. Beauregard. In the following two months the Union begun to build up and train their armed forces. On July 21 the public demand pushed the Union forces to attack the Confederate troops at Bull Run, Virginia. Southern troops won the battle, and the North withdraw toward Washington. The rest of the year the Union begun an effective blockade to stop South from exporting their goods. On January 27 1862, President Lincoln issued a war order authorizing the Union to launch an aggressive action against the Confederacy. The South tried to break their isolation. This resulted in the naval battle on Hampton Roads, where Monitor from North defeated Merrimac from South. After this day in March the South had totaly lost control over the waters outside their coast.

The war continued with a lot of battles in which the Confederacy were more successful than its opponents. On September 17, Confederate forces under Gen. Robert E. Lee were engaged by Gen. McClellan in Antietam, Maryland. This proved to be the bloodiest day of the war, with 2108 Union soldiers and 2700 Confederates killed. There were also a lot of wounded in both camps. The battle had no clear winner, but because Gen. Lee withdraw to Virginia, McClellan was considered the victor.

On January 1 1863, President Lincoln issued the "Emancipation Proclamation", declaring that all slaves in areas still in rebellion were, in the eyes of the Union, free. In March the same year a conscription act come into force, that made it possible to draft all men between 20 and 45. The service could be avoided by paying a fee or finding a substitute. This resulted in riots among poor people in New York. Even the South had a similar conscription act.

In May Union Gen. Grant launched the Vicksburg campaign. He won several victories around Vicksburg, Mississippi, and on May 22 he sieged the city. After six weeks Gen. Pemberton surrendered. The capture of Port Hudson, Louisiana, shortly thereupon placed the entire Mississippi River in Union hands. The Confederacy was split in two. Later that summer on July 1 Confederate Gen. Lee attacked Union Gen. George Meade at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Meade won the battle after three days and Lee retreated back to Virginia. This is considered to be the turning point of the war. After this day the Union had the fortune of war on their side.

In August 1864, Union Gen. Sherman started the Atlanta campaign, when he departed Chattanooga. He fought his way down to Atlanta and sieged the city. Atlanta, under command of Gen. Hood, surrendered on September 1. Sherman stayed in the city until november when he begun to march towards Savannah. At the same time President Lincoln was re-elected by a wide margin. His popularity was boosted by Sherman´s victory in Atlanta. In December Gen. Sherman captured Savannah and in February, 1865, he marched through first South Carolina and later North Carolina, destroying almost everything in his path.

On April 2 Gen. Lee was forced to evacuate Richmond, the Confederate capitol, when Gen. Grant´s forces threatened to encircle the city. Soon after they left Richmond they were surrounded and on April 7, Gen. Grant called upon Lee to surrender. On April 9, the two commanders met at Appomattox Courthouse, and agreed on the terms of surrender. Lee´s men were sent home on parole.The soldiers with their horses and the officers with their side arms. All other equipment was confiscated.

On April 14 President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth when he was watching a performance at Ford´s theater in Washington. Booth was obsessed by trying to revenge the Confederacy defeat. During an attempt to escape he was shot by a Union soldier.

Remaining Confederate troops were defeated between the end of April and the end of May. The Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured in Georgia on May 10. In december the same year a new additional paragraph to the constitution put an end to slavery.

The war results was depressing. For the Union 360.000 had been killed and for the Confederate the number was 260.000 killed. Huge land areas had been devastated and the bitterness between the North and the South would last for a long time. The war resulted however in the ending of slavery and that the Union was saved. This war is often said to be the first modern war because on the use of landmines, torpedos, balloons for aerial reconnaissance and telegraphy.

The 20:th Infantry regiment from Maine