Defining Moments: The Civil War

The Civil War—like all civil wars—was divisive, costly, and savage. More Americans died in this war than in World War I and World War II combined. Brother was pitted against brother and neighbor against neighbor. There are no civilians in a civil war and both sides’ scorched earth policies meant that there were significant noncombatant casualties. The Civil War was a defining moment in the history of the United States. It showed that the fragile union of colonies on the eastern seaboard of Ameri