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Chapter One THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CONFLICT

F or many years after the American Civil War (1861–1865), Northerners would refer to it as the War of the Rebellion. It had been the second conflict in less than a century, the first, the American Revolution (the War of American Independence), having resulted in the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the expulsion of the British. Many saw the conflict as something more than a popular uprising against an occupying force, regarding it as an event of far-

Words to Understand Plantation: A large farm or estate, usually in countries with hot climates where crops such as cotton are grown. Revolution: An attempt to overthrow one government and replace it with another. Slavery: The state of a person who is a property of another.

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