The American Civil War also known as a civil war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North (Union) and the South ( Confederacy ) Overview In the 1860 presidential election , Republicans , led by Abraham Lincoln , supported banning slavery in all the U.S. territories . The Southern states viewed this as a violation of their constitutional rights, and as the first step in a grander Republican plan to eventually abolish slavery. The three pro-Union candidates together received an overwhelming 82% majority of the votes cast nationally: Republican Lincoln's votes centered in the north, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas ' votes were distributed nationally and Constitutional Unionist John Bell 's votes centered in Tennessee , Kentucky , and Virginia . The Republican Party, dominant in the North, secured a plurality ...