what was the american civil war about

The American Civil War (1861-1865) was primarily about the conflict over slavery and the future of the United States as a nation. The war was triggered by long-standing tensions between the Northern states (the Union), which were mostly free states, and the Southern states (the Confederacy), which depended heavily on slavery for their agricultural economy. The immediate cause of the war was the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, who opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories. In response, seven Southern slave states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the outbreak of war in April 1861 when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Two core questions underpinned the war: whether the United States would remain an indivisible nation or become a collection of sovereign states, and whether the nation would continue to allow slavery or move toward abolition. The war ended with the Northern victory, which preserved the United States as one nation and abolished slavery throughout the country. This conflict was the most destructive in American history up to that point, with over 600,000 deaths and profound social and political consequences for the country.