Throughout the majority of the early 1800’s the United States was growing and prospering rapidly, especially in the south where plantation owners used slave labor to work their fields. In the mid 1800’s relations between the north and south became quite strained as the North was against slavery and the South argued that they would not be able to make a profit without their slaves.
With the United States rapidly expanding westward, the north and south argued whether the new territories should be free states or slave states.
At this same time Abraham Lincoln won the election for president, it was a close election and not one slave state supported him. This led to South Carolina seceding from the Union with others to follow shortly after. They were not interested in changing their way of life and formed the Confederate States of America. With their new president Jefferson Davis they began taking over military forts in the south, the last fort to be taken was Fort Sumner. On the morning of April 12, 1861, fifty or some cannons fired on the fort from four different directions, destroying the fort. President Lincoln called for volunteers to enlist in the military while the Confederacy did the same. The Civil War had begun.
Civil War Photography 