5. Precipitating the American Civil War, the secession and formation of the Confederate States of America was an effort by the South to withdraw from the infant United States and create their own country on the North American continent
Formed by the secession of seven states from the United States of America, joined later by four more, the Confederate States of America sought to extricate itself from the Union and form an independent nation. Declaring their departure from the North American country following the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860, who had won office opposed to the expansion of slavery into the western territories and without appearing on the ballot in the southern states, on February 8, 1861, the Confederate Constitution was promulgated. Rejected by the federal government as illegal, following the attack on Fort Sumter by Confederate forces on April 12, 1861, the American Civil War began.
Failing to garner recognition from a single foreign entity, the separatists stood alone against the emerging industrial might of the remaining United States. Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, the Confederacy came close to securing their independence at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. Without allies, resources, or sufficient manpower, after four brutal years of conflict, the Confederacy was forced to surrender to the Union in 1865. Reabsorbed into the United States and occupied by federal troops until 1877, the secession effort claimed the lives of more American soldiers than every other war, both prior and since, combined.