Civil War Special Requistion - 1864 dated Civil War Document

Special Requisition for clothing during the Civil War. The American Civil War, fought from April 12, 1861, to May 26, 1865, was a conflict between the Union (North) and the Confederacy (South), the latter formed by Southern states that seceded from the Union in 1861. The primary cause of the war was the contentious debate over the expansion of slavery into western territories. The North opposed the spread of slavery, believing it would eventually lead to its abolition, while the South sought to expand slavery, fearing that restrictions would threaten their economic and social systems.

The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, who opposed the expansion of slavery, was a turning point that led seven Southern slave states to secede and form the Confederacy, which began seizing U.S. forts and federal properties. The war officially began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina, igniting widespread enthusiasm and military enlistment on both sides. Following the outbreak of hostilities, four more Southern states seceded, bringing the Confederacy, under President Jefferson Davis, to encompass eleven states and roughly a third of the U.S. population. The war, fought predominantly in the South, lasted four years and became one of the most defining conflicts in American history.