Every student in every American classroom is at some point taught at least some of the details. The Civil War, fought between 23 northern U.S. states and 11 seceding southern states, played out between April 1861 and April 1865.
The central, dominant issues were tensions over the westward expansion of slavery 鈥 the South鈥檚 primary engine of its agrarian economy 鈥 and the election of a U.S. president who sought to halt its spread. The War of Northern Aggression, as it was widely portrayed in the South, was about the continued subjugation of a people.
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