the American Civil War, a conflict lasting four years (1861 - 1865) in the United States between eleven Southern states, which asserted their right to withdraw from the United States, and the states and territories of the North, which were determined to maintain the Union. The contributing causes included the question of slavery in the South and the extension of it into new territories, as well as sectional rivalry. —SHSBC Binder 33 Approved Glossary