Talk:American Civil War

Removed copyrighted content per. OTRS complaint.

Much of the introduction was a copyright violation, as the text was pasted verbatim from American Civil War: Causes The Approaching Storm by Kennedy Hickman. It was removed by a member of the OTRS team pursuant to OTRS complaint #2011060810015901. Please do not revert this edit, as copyright violation is a serious breach of Wikipedia guidelines. Asav (talk) 21:33, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

I'm gonna simplify the above, just to make it a bit easier. I can't change the content directly, so I'll rewrite it.

• Most of the introduction broke copyright laws, because it was copied exactly from American Civil War: Causes The Approaching Storm by Kennedy Hickman. It was removed by a member of staff from OTRS, because of complaint #2011060810015901. Please do not undo this change, as breaking copyright laws is not allowed by Wikipedia's rules. Simplified by BarkingFish (talk) 22:18, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

Simple enough?

I was wondering if "The war" section was simple enough. Also, how much detail does this section need? Wild Wolf (talk) 20:03, 1 August 2013 (UTC)

I only had a quick read through, but I think it's pretty good! You can add more detail if you want; some editors prefer this kind of brief summary for Simple English. Osiris (talk) 05:41, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

On language, agree. You're pretty close, I think.

For detail, that's a good question. When I first came to this wiki, I had an interesting talk with Peterdownunder (talk · contribs) that I found pretty useful. You can find it here: User talk:StevenJ81#Simplicity. In summary: The language is simple here, not the users. Do not assume they do not want detail. But don't write Encyclopædia Britannica, either, not even in Simple English.

I think you've made a great start. But personally, I think the detail is a little too thin here. Also, I think I would divide this section into two sub-parts:

• Early war (through Vicksburg and Gettysburg, say). Cover the three theaters separately, more or less the way you have. I don't recall: Do you cover the naval blockade?
• Later war. Begin with some transitional points: Union very much in control in West and Trans-Mississippi, blockade starting to take a toll on Southern resources and trade. Lincoln reshuffles key generals (Grant/Sherman), etc. Focus on Eastern theater campaigns, through Lincoln assassination and Appomattox. Then brief conclusion on rest of war winding down.

StevenJ81 (talk) 18:06, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

I was mostly wondering about how long the article should be. For example, should each and every of the major battles/campaigns (Stones River, Chickamauga, Petersburg, Franklin/Nashville, etc.) be included in the main article or be discussed in the theater articles, with the main article taling about the most famous battles? I tried shuffling the info around a bit. Do you think I'm on the right track with this?

I'll probably have some trouble keeping the language simple until I get used to this. Wild Wolf (talk) 03:51, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

The Reconstruction Era

The Reconstruction Era (1865 to 1877) was after the 'American Civil War' (1861 to 1865). After the Civil War ended and the Confederate states surrendered, a plan to help the Southern states rebuild was created by the Federal government. Many railroads, farms, and houses were destroyed during the war, and many people in the South became very poor. A plan was also made by the Federal government to support the newly freed African Americans who had been living under slavery. The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution (1865) banned slavery in the United States.

The United States government sent military troops into Southern states to help restore local and state governments and protect the rights of former slaves.

The Freedmen’s Bureau was created by the US government to support the needs of those who had been freed from slavery. The Bureau made sure that former slaves were paid for their work, that they could vote, and own property.

The US government also passed laws that former leaders of the Confederacy could not run for political offices. The 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution were also passed during this time.

The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) made it clear that all people born in the United States are citizens, and all citizens have equal rights.

The Fifteenth Amendment (1870) said that people in the United States could not be kept from voting because of their race.

Many white people in the Southern United States did not want former slaves to have equal rights, or be able to vote. The racism did not go away just because the Confederate states surrendered.

The Ku Klux Klan formed in the Southern United States to fight against Reconstruction, African Americans and equal rights. The Klan intimidated, suppressed and killed African Americans who attempted to practice their newly gained rights. Southern Democrats worked with white supremacist groups to regain political and economic power through violence, murder and mayhem.

When the KKK started, the ex-Confederate states were occupied by soldiers from the North. The Klan acted against Black voters to intimidate them. At times, Republicans were also targets of attacks by the Klan. The growing violence which was promoted by the KKK led to many deaths. Over 2,000 people were killed by the KKK and other white supremacist groups during Reconstruction.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:18B:300:9EB0:8EB:3A66:3165:AEAE (talk • contribs) 18:48, 5 March 2021 (UTC)

Can we protect this page?

Lately, there has been a lot of vandalism going on in this page. I'm just asking for protection. Can we do it? --Leo • 💬 • 📜 14:44, 11 May 2021 (UTC)