At the start of the war, the North had a population of about 22 million people. They had more factories and could produce guns, uniforms, clothing and other supplies. The railroads were better in the North. The South had a population of 9 million including 3,500,000 slaves. They were good horsemen and good shots. They also had great military leaders.
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president. He was a Republican. The Republicans wanted to get rid of slavery in the new states. On December 20th, South Carolina voted to secede from the Union. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas soon followed. Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina followed. The border states of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware remained with the union. In Missouri and Kentucky a lot of people remained loyal to the South.
On April 12, 1861, the first shot was fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, ordered Pierre G.T. Beauregard to take the fort. Major Robert Anderson attempted to defend the fort. However, he later surrendered to the Confederates. The war ended with General Robert E. Lee surrendering at Appomattox, VA to General Ulysses S. Grant on Sunday, April 9,1965.