20 Haunting Photos From The American Civil War

Disclaimer: This article contains graphic images

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a civil war in the United States of America. It was fought when 11 Southern states left the United States and formed the Confederate States of America (also called the Confederacy). The US government and the states that remained loyal to it were called the Union.

The main cause of the war was slavery, which was allowed in the South, including all 11 Confederate States. Slavery was illegal in most of the North. The Confederate States tried to leave the Union after Abraham Lincoln, who disliked slavery, was elected US president. The Union believed that it was illegal for the states to break away. There were five states that allowed slavery which stayed in the Union.

The war lasted four years and caused much damage in the South. After four years of fighting, the Union won the war, and soon, slavery was made illegal everywhere in the United States of America.

*definition quoted from simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

Here are 20 haunting photos from the battlefields, prisons and camps of the American Civil War.