The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, in South Carolina, not long after Lincoln became president. The war lasted four years, killing 600,000 Americans.
On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It was an order to free all slaves in the Confederate States.
The war finally ended on April 9, 1865 when Confederate General Robert Lee surrendered. Lincoln wanted the state to recover from the war as soon as possible. He wanted to be generous to the Southern states and help them make good the material damage they suffered during the war. Unfortunately, he did not experience seeing the rebuilding of the state.
On April 15, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. He was executed by Confederate spy John Wilkes But when Lincoln visited the Ford Theater.
