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The American Civil War began when the southern states seceded from the U.S. and formed the Confederate States of America in 1861. The actual first battle, at the beginning of the Civil War, was on April 12, 1861 when the Confederacy attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. It was then that President Abraham Lincoln began to form volunteer armies within the states, and soon afterwards, both sides began to form their own armies. President Lincoln later passed the Emancipation Proclamation, which was a goal of the war to end slavery; however, much controversy comes over President Lincoln's passing of it as many feel that it was not a viable proclamation as the United States was divided north and south with a governing "president" residing over both sides. That being said, the establishment of a second presidential figure, despite the nation being divided, could not be recognized by the U.S. Constitution as Lincoln was officially elected as the President of the United States.

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16y ago

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