AMERICAN CIVIL WAR- At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, the Confederate Artillery in Charleston, S.C., opened fire on Fort Sumter, which was held by the United States Army. The bombardment set off a savage four-year war between two great geographic sections of the United States. One section was the North - 23 Northern and Western states that supported the federal government. The other section was the South - 11 Southern states that had seceded (withdrawn) from the Union and formed an independent government called the Confederate States of America. The struggle between these two combatants is the American Civil War, also known as the War Between the States or the War of Rebellion.
                                  The war aims of both sides were simple. At the beginning the North fought only to preserve the Union. The South fought to win recognition as an independent nation. After 1862 the long, troublesome slavery problem became an additional issue of vast importance. A Northern victory would mean ultimate freedom for slaves; A Southern victory would insure the protection of slavery in all Confederate states.