The civil war started in 1861 and ended in 1865. it was between the two sides of the united states, the North and the south. Many of the reasons for going to war included slavery. 11 states succeeded from the union and those states were south Carolina,Mississippi,Florida,Alabama,Georgia,Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee. A major factor for the southern states succeeding was the election of Abraham Lincoln. there were a ton of battle's that took place during the four year span. the start of the war took place at fort Sumter but really didn't get going till the battle of Bull run. 620,000 men died in the span of the civil war.