9781422274156

successful in several major battles during 1861 and 1862, as the war dragged on Confederate forces were gradually overpowered by the superior numbers of the Union forces, as well as the industrial strength of the northern states. The Confederate defeat at Gettysburg, and the capture of a Mississippi River stronghold at Vicksburg in July 1863, marked a turning point in the war. As the Confederates found themselves short of manpower in 1864 some officers even considered a controversial proposal to free any slaves who would agree to fight for the Confederacy. This proposal was quickly quashed by government officials, however. On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. This is often said to mark the end of the war, although Confederate forces in other parts of the country continued fighting until June. RECONSTRUCTION AND JIM CROW Slavery in the United States was abolished with the enactment of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. The Fourteenth Amendment accorded black Americans equal protection under the law, and the Fifteenth Amendment gave black men the right to vote. However, the successes of this period, known as Reconstruction, were short-lived. Former Confederates who wanted to re-establish white supremacy in the South formed groups like the Ku Klux

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Overview of Race Relations in America