FIGHTING FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND FIGHTING TO END SLAVERY
Between 1800-1860 there were people who thought that slavery should be illegal and that everyone in the U.S. should have civil rights. For example, Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery and became an important civil rights leader in the 1800s. He is famous for giving speeches and writing books about ending slavery and protecting civil rights for all people.
Susan B. Anthony is another person who fought for civil rights during the 1800s. She agreed with Frederick Douglass that slavery should be illegal. Susan B. Anthony also fought for women's rights. She wanted women to be treated equally to men, and she wanted women to have the right to vote in the United States.
Frederick Douglass. Courtesy of the National Park Service.
Susan B. Anthony.
From a photograph by Veeder, Albany, Susan B. Anthony. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
In 1861, the U.S. started fighting the Civil War. The Civil War is one war that the U.S. fought during the 1800s. The Civil War was fought between the North and the South between 1861 - 1865.
One problem that led to the Civil War was slavery. The states in the South believed that slavery should be legal. They were afraid that states in the North wanted to make slavery illegal in the whole country. The states in the North were also afraid that the Southern states wanted to make slavery legal in the whole country.
The Civil War started in 1861 after 11 states in the South left the United States and tried to create their own country. They called their country the Confederate States of America. The states in the North were still called the United States of America.
The United States in 1861, at the start of the Civil War.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services