The American Civil War (1861-1865) was a
horrible conflict between the United
States (the
"Union") and eleven Southern states that maintained that they had a right to
secession and formed the Confederate States of America,
led by President Jefferson Davis. The Union, led by President Abraham Lincoln
and the Republican Party, opposed the continuation of slavery into territories
owned by the United States and opposed any right of secession. The Civil War
started on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces fired upon a United
States (federal)
military installation at FortSumter
in South
Carolina,
which was the first state to secede. The two sides are depicted by the
Confederate grey and The Union blue in various chess sets presented here. In
an ideal world this should be the only way conflicts are settled.