The Civil War touched every person and influenced every institution more profoundly than any other event in American history. Over half a million young Americans gave their lives fighting for or against the effort by Southern states to secede from the Union and to preserve a society based on slave labor. Not only were civilians deeply scarred by the war, but no aspect of the society, economy, or political system was spared. To this day, no part of the American past attracts so much continuing interest as the War Between the States.

The National Park Service conserves the sites of the most important military actions of the war. Through exhibits, video presentations, ranger talks and guided tours, publications, research and educational programs, historians and interpreters help provide Americans and their guests with a deeper understanding of the conflict. Today, those efforts have grown to include the World Wide Web.

Here you can begin to explore the broader meanings of the Civil War, for you, for Americans of that time and of ours. The information is arranged according to four major areas of impact on America:

Social Aspects of the Civil War: How was the contest influenced by the rapidly changing world of American family, community, and work life, and especially by the institution of slavery?

Economic Aspects of the Civil War: How was the nature of war itself transformed by the industrial and transportation revolutions of 19th-century America?

Political Aspects of the Civil War: How did the conflict over the issue of slavery shatter the American political order, shape wartime strategies, and transform our system of constitutional government?

Military Aspects of the Civil War: How were battlefield decisions often shaped by the prior knowledge and experience of the soldiers, even in their peacetime lives?

Let the words of National Park Service Rangers guide you on your path to discovery of the Civil War.