With the people on edge and Lincoln’s nomination
South Carolina secedes from the nation
They would not support the foreseen emancipation
Of slaves, and so they paved the way for a new nation
Later to be joined by Mississippi, Florida
Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia
The new Deep South nation was born
While Fort Sumter watered the seeds of war
Can’t forget Virginia, Arkansas, NC
Tennessee, too, eventually joined the Confederacy
To preserve the Union, that was Lincoln’s aim
But the South all suspected it was all just a game
The Confederates felt he meant to free slaves
That it would be law if Lincoln had his ways
They wanted to stop his evil plot
So they tried to lure Europe with ol’ King Cotton
To stop this, the Union tried the Anaconda Plan
Then the blockade runners fought back
The Virginia arrived and splintered Union vessels
‘Til the Monitor was born, the Union’s own ship of metal
The Battle of the Ironclads ended in a draw
And the blockade remained, leaving the South appalled
Fort Fisher’s second battle closed off the ports
The blockade runners’ reign had been halted, cut short
“Stonewall” Jackson and the First Battle of Bull Run
Made the South overconfident by Second Bull Run
The major victories that they had won
Made them become complacent, and so they pushed the front
Past the borders of the U.S., the Battle of Antietam
Was a failure, at best, since we soundly defeated them
And then their fears were confirmed when their sister nation
Finally declared the Emancipation Proclamation
But McClellan failed to stay the course
So Burnside was chosen for Fredericksburg
But he was defeated by Robert E. Lee, as was Hooker
Until Meade was appointed and stopped Lee at Gettysburg
The war was becoming bloody and hard
This was not helped at all by Pickett’s Charge
Ulysses S. Grant was the man of the West
And his strategies put the Confederates to the test
Many battles were fought, brother against brother
Masters versus slaves, or agents moving undercover
Since the total war strategy would bring a swift end
Grant employed William Tecumseh Sherman
He moved to take Atlanta, and then
He ensured that it was “Gone With the Wind”
He continued on his “March to the Sea”
And after Sayler’s Creek, it was clear to see
That the South had lost, and that Robert E. Lee
Could not continue fighting, and he accepted defeat
On April 9, 1865, he surrendered peacefully
And the Union was settling slightly, until April 14
Lincoln’s death was a casualty that affected both sides
And it sparked Reconstruction, which would test many lives
A divided union, where ideas clashed
What started as disagreements ended in bloodbaths
Pain and ruin paved the path
To Reconstruction, leaving a dark chapter in our past
At last, the days of slavery were over
But did that mean that oppression was too?
No, the perpetrators were just older
But now the freedmen had grown bolder as soldiers

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