5621–5625 AM · 1861 CE — 1865 CE · world history
The American Civil War and the End of Slavery
The bloodiest war in American history ends with the emancipation of four million people.
The war will end with the freeing of four million slaves. Southern states secede to preserve slavery, and the war that follows kills some 600,000 people—more than all other American wars combined. In 1863 Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, and after victory the Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery for good. Real equality would take another century.
Sources
Documents of the period
- documents and chronicles of the period — the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and the Thirteenth Amendment (1865)
Scholarship
- studies in European history — some six hundred thousand dead — more than all other American wars combined
Basis: documents and evidence.