Hundreds of women secretly joined the Union and Confederate armies during the war

Approximately 180,000 African Americans served in Union forces

About 180,000 Black soldiers—roughly 10% of the Union army—served in the United States Colored Troops after 1863. Despite lower pay and discrimination, they were crucial to the Union victory.

Women's role in society expanded during the war

With millions of men at war, women managed farms and businesses, served as nurses, and organized aid efforts—broadening women's participation in public life and laying the groundwork for future suffrage movements.

See the army generals who helped define the Civil War

Hear profiles of the Union and Confederate commanders whose choices defined the war's outcome—from Grant and Lee to Sherman, Jackson, and others. See how their actions, tactics, and skills shaped the Civil War.

Black women played a central but often overlooked role in the suffrage movement

Although the women's suffrage movement is often portrayed as a white story, Black women like Truth, Ida B. Wells, and Mary Church Terrell fought for voting rights—frequently facing racism within the movement itself.

Hear how the world reacted to the American Civil War

European nations closely watched the Civil War for its economic and political consequences. Some European nations quietly engaged diplomatically with the Confederacy but withheld recognition. When the Union made slavery's abolition a central cause, European public opinion turned sharply against the South.

How Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman grappled with the American Civil War

Whitman, whose brother was injured while fighting for the Union, was often overt in his pro-Union poems. Dickinson, whose brother paid to have someone enlist under his name, was more subtle, though equally as affected, as this comparative analysis makes clear.

Why did four Black servicewomen go on strike during WWII?

On March 9, 1945, dozens of Black women stationed at Fort Devens went on strike to protest against their treatment and working conditions. Under pressure, many abandoned the strike, though four women pushed through despite the possibility of their strike being considered mutiny, a crime whose punishment could mean death. Read this article to learn why Privates Mary Green, Anna Morrison, Johnnie Murphy, and Alice Young pushed back.

Timeline of women in labor history

In 1866, newly freed black women working as laundresses in Jackson, Mississippi, formed a union and went on strike for higher wages. But it wasn't until 1974, that the Coalition of Labor Union Women was founded as America's only national organization for union women. Want to find out more about the history of women in the labor movement? Click here for the full timeline.

Most Confederate soldiers and leaders after the Civil War were pardoned

After surrender, most Confederate soldiers were pardoned and returned home, while leaders like Jefferson Davis faced short imprisonment. The South came under military occupation, Confederate money became worthless, and many former officers were barred from public office.

Women in WWII used tattoos to avoid capture

During World War II, Japanese soldiers kidnapped women from Southeast Asian countries and forced them into sexual slavery. But they hesitated to capture married women, a fact that women from the island of Timor exploited, painstakingly poking tattoos onto their bodies that marked them as married women.

11 states formed the Confederacy, with 2 others claiming allegiance

Between December 1860 and June 1861, 11 Southern states officially seceded to form the Confederacy. Pro-Confederate factions in Missouri and Kentucky also declared secession, but both states remained largely under Union control throughout the war.

Hear firsthand stories from the Civil War

Historian and storyteller Fred Kiger narrates detail-rich episodes exploring overlooked people and moments of the Civil War—bringing listeners onto battlefields and into strategy rooms and offering insight into the lives of those who lived the conflict.

The Civil War introduced many technological advances to both society and warfare.

Marie Curie developed and trained women to operate mobile X-ray units in World War I

The “petites Curies” allowed medical professionals to identify the severity of wounds without transporting soldiers to medical facilities, expediting treatment and saving lives. The efforts of Curie and other women led to expansions in their rights after the war.

37 maps that explain the American Civil War

This collection of 37 maps tells the story of the American Civil War as well as any historical account. See how and where the war began and why, and where the major battles were fought. Discover how the North achieved victory and the many ways the war changed America forever.

Twain served in a Confederate militia for two weeks

In 1861, a 25-year-old Twain joined the Marion Rangers, a pro-Confederate militia. The group disbanded after two weeks upon hearing that Ulysses S. Grant, General of the Union Army, was headed their way. Twain moved to Nevada, where he eventually took a job at a newspaper.

Two-thirds of soldier deaths during the war were due to disease

Roughly two-thirds of all Civil War deaths resulted from disease rather than battle. Poor sanitation, contaminated water, and limited medical knowledge made camps breeding grounds for dysentery, typhoid, and other deadly infections.

View animated battle maps from every major skirmish of the American Civil War.

The Civil War was the deadliest conflict in American history

Between 1861 and 1865, an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers died from battle and disease—more than in all other US wars combined.

Journal entries by a 10-year-old girl living through the Civil War

So much of war history is written by politicians, officers, and soldiers. Less often heard from are civilians who witnessed the effects and bigger events of a war. Carrie Mabry Berry was a 10-year-old girl who lived in Atlanta during the Civil War who kept a diary. In it she recorded events like General Sherman's shelling of Atlanta and more. This article provides a peek in Carrie's diary.

Hughes reported on Black Americans volunteering in the Spanish Civil War

In 1937, the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper sent him to cover the Black soldiers who’d left the US to fight in the International Brigades cooperating with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Hughes’ dispatches mainly focused on the racially integrated military companies, something that was prohibited in the US.

Irish immigrants deserted the US Army to fight for Mexico

During the Mexican-American War, hundreds of Irish Catholic immigrants—facing discrimination in the US Army—defected to Mexico and formed the Saint Patrick’s Battalion. Though many were captured and executed, they remain honored as heroes in Mexico.

The Emancipation Proclamation shifted the purpose of the war for the Union

Issued on Jan. 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved people in Confederate-held territory free, redefining the Union's cause from merely preserving the nation to abolishing slavery.

Was the Civil War really about states' rights?

The Civil War was fought over slavery, and Confederate leaders and supporters admitted as much in the build-up to the war and after. But later on, after the South's defeat, the lie of the Lost Cause was pushed—and it persists to this day. This four-minute video details the story of the Lost Cause, "state's rights", Confederate monuments, and the machinations behind them.

The Union victory at Gettysburg marked a major turning point in the war

Fought July 1-3, 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg ended the Confederate invasion of the North. While the Union lost nearly 23,000 troops, its victory in one of America's most famous battles shifted the war's momentum decisively toward the North.

The Royal Governor of Virginia offered slaves their freedom if they escaped and fought for the British in the American Revolutionary War.

See what it was like to live in the United States during World War II

In America, life was transformed by total war: sixteen million service members left civilian life, while massive industrial production demanded labor. Women, minorities, and teens filled factories, fueling boomtown growth and breaking social barriers. Simultaneously, rationing, recycling drives, Victory Gardens, ration stamps, blackout drills, and war bond campaigns permeated daily routines.

Abraham Lincoln had to sneak into Washington, DC, in disguise for his 1861 inauguration after a detective uncovered a plot to assassinate him in Baltimore.

Riveting artwork from the battlefields during World War I

During World War I, the United States government commissioned eight artists to accompany American Expeditionary Forces to Europe to sketch and document what they saw. Drawing tanks, soldiers, shattered villages, and even German prisoners of war, the artists preserved much of the war as a matter of historical record and to rally support back home.

Peggy Shippen, Benedict Arnold's wife, was the highest-paid spy of the Revolution

Few names conjure up the idea of betrayal more than Benedict Arnold, the notorious American military officer who was caught attempting to hand over West Point to the British during the Revolutionary War. This podcast episode dives into the key role his wife, wealthy spy Peggy Shippen, played in the plot.

Visualize every day of the American Civil War, in which fighting took place in a majority of the country.

The Civil War permanently strengthened federal power

The Civil War expanded federal power through emancipation, national military mobilization, and postwar civil rights laws, permanently strengthening the national government and shifting the balance of authority away from the states.

Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860 triggered a cascade of Southern secessions and the formation of the Confederacy, culminating in the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.

Abraham Lincoln's victory in 1860 sparked Southern secession—even before his inauguration

Abraham Lincoln's election on an antislavery expansion platform convinced many Southerners that their way of life was under threat. Within three months, seven states seceded from the Union—forming the Confederacy—before Lincoln took office in March 1861.

The Mexican-American War trained future Civil War generals

Many key military leaders of the Civil War—including Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson—first saw combat in the Mexican-American War, gaining battlefield experience that shaped their later commands.

Where was the Civil War fought?

The Civil War is commonly described as a war between northern and southern US states, but where was the war actually fought? Watch this interactive map and timeline to see who fought who and when. Click on specific battles to learn more about each fight.

In the midst of the Civil War, Lincoln rapidly expanded presidential power

Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, expanded the army without congressional approval, and issued the Emancipation Proclamation—despite likely lacking authority to unilaterally alter national slave law. His actions set precedents for expanded presidential power in wartime.

According to Confederate leaders, the defense of slavery was the primary reason for secession.

The South was placed under federal military rule during Reconstruction

Beginning in 1867, the Reconstruction Acts divided 10 former Confederate states into five military districts, each governed by a Union general. Federal troops supervised elections, enforced civil rights, and maintained order under direct congressional authority.

When German submarines lurked in US coastal waters

During World War II, German submarines (also known as U-boats) prowled the Southern coast of the US in 1942 and 1943, sinking more than 60 ships and killing 600 Allied soldiers. The campaign is less well-known, since the major battles in Stalingrad and Midway happened at the time. Several of these submarines and the ships they sank are now popular diving spots.

The final shots of the Civil War were fired in the Arctic over 2 months after the South's surrender.

Guerilla warfare was a significant part of the success of the Americans

Francis Marion, also known as the Swamp Fox, was a Patriot general who used guerrilla warfare tactics in the Carolinas during the Revolutionary War’s southern campaigns. Also called “maneuver warfare,” the approach focuses on disorienting the enemy and exploiting their weaknesses while avoiding their strengths.

What impact did WWI have on the US civil rights movement?

One of the great hypocrisies in American history involve the expectation of African-Americans to defend liberty in several wars while being deprived of it when they returned home to, as this article puts it "disfranchisement, segregation, debt peonage and racial violence." The writer reflects on World War I and how it affected the fight for civil rights in the USA.

Adams' famous 1776 letter urged the Founders to 'remember the ladies'

In a March 1776 letter to John, Adams urged the Founders not to grant husbands unchecked power over their wives. Historians note it was not a demand for suffrage but a challenge to coverture—the legal doctrine that denied a married woman an independent identity.

More than 5,000 marchers joined the 1913 Woman Suffrage Parade on the National Mall

On March 3, 1913—the day before Woodrow Wilson's inauguration—suffragists marched through Washington, DC. The parade drew large crowds, exposed violent opposition to women's suffrage, and helped galvanize support for the 19th Amendment.

Some historians claim that Mexico's victory at Puebla may have prevented France from arming the Confederacy

According to some experts, Napoleon III planned to ship weapons from Mexico to Confederate forces to break the Union naval blockade. The delay caused by the Battle of Puebla meant French resources didn't reach the Texas border until after the Union Army's decisive victory at Vicksburg.

Scale models show the intricacy of WWI trench warfare

Every inch of these models of WWI soldiers in the trenches is crafted with amazing details, right down to the real-life letters written to home.

Listen to firsthand accounts of how Black Americans fought to end slavery and shape Reconstruction

This podcast explores the actions of Black Americans who fought for freedom before, during, and after the Civil War—highlighting their key role in abolition and the Reconstruction era.

See rare Civil War photographs preserved by the National Archives

The Civil War was the first major American conflict documented by a camera, with its images distributed widely to the public. The National Archives' digital collection offers thousands of original Civil War images: portraits, battlefields, hospitals, and everyday life.

The US Mint was among the first federal agencies to hire women

In 1795, the US Mint hired two women, named Sarah Waldrake and Rachael Summers, as adjusters. At the time, adjusters weighed blank coins and “adjusted” those weighing too much by filing them down.