Time Periods

The Antebellum Period refers to America prior to the Civil War, especially Southern culture.

The war began on April 12, 1861 when Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.

In 1862, the Confederate armies won many victories in the East, but the Union held their own in the West and South.

The Civil War turned in favor of the Union in 1863 with victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg.

Ulysses S. Grant took command of the Union army in 1864, leading the effort to subdue Robert E. Lee's forces.

On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia to Grant, effectively ending the Civil War.

From 1866 to the Compromise of 1877, government policies reincorporated the Confederacy back into the Union.