One hundred and forty eight years ago, on April 12th, 1861, U.S. Civil War began as 11 Southern states declared their secession from the U.S., formed the Confederate States of America, and started fighting against the federal government with the attack on Fort Sumter, North Carolina.
Civil War history is one of the subject strengths of the Opening History aggregation. Opening History contains twelve digital collections that cover Civil War events. Both photographs below come from University of Illinois’ Teaching with Digital Content (Digital Cultural Heritage Community) collection (More information about this collection from Opening History).
A photograph of Three Confederate Soldiers by Matthew Brady.
Cushing’s Artillery Men (Union soldiers), a photograph by Matthew Brady.