# Canonical recap data for American Civil War Ends (1865)
# Source: https://recap.at/1865/lee-surrenders-appomattox
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: lee-surrenders-appomattox
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1865/lee-surrenders-appomattox"
title: American Civil War Ends
aliases:
- Lee's Surrender
- Appomattox
- End of the Rebellion
- 1865 Surrender
subtitle: American Civil War Ends
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1865-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1865
decade: 1860
country:
name: United States
slug: united-states
summaryShort: During the American Civil War, sexual behavior, gender roles, and attitudes were affected by the conflict, especially by the absence of menfolk at home and the emergence of new roles for women such as nursing. Clothing adapted to these new roles, becoming more practical and functional as women took on additional respon
summaryLong: During the American Civil War, sexual behavior, gender roles, and attitudes were affected by the conflict, especially by the absence of menfolk at home and the emergence of new roles for women such as nursing. Clothing adapted to these new roles, becoming more practical and functional as women took on additional responsibilities. The advent of photography and easier media distribution, for example, allowed for greater access to sexual material for the common soldier, while the changes in women's clothing reflected broader societal adjustments to the war's demands.
lede: The American Civil War ended in April 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The four-year conflict killed roughly 620,000 soldiers and destroyed the institution of slavery, fundamentally reshaping the political and social order of the United States.
heroImageUrl: "https://live.staticflickr.com/3517/3259596500_9298b9ae04_b.jpg"
heroImageCredit: "\"Thurgood Marshall, First African-American Supreme Court Justice\" by Tony Fischer Photography is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/."
importance: 50
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Estimated total deaths
  value: 620,000 soldiers
- label: Duration of conflict
  value: 4 years, April 1861 to April 1865
- label: Surrender location
  value: Appomattox Court House, Virginia
- label: Surrender date
  value: April 9, 1865
- label: Union general accepting surrender
  value: Ulysses S. Grant
- label: Confederate general surrendering
  value: Robert E. Lee
- label: States that seceded
  value: 11 Confederate states
- label: 13th Amendment ratified
  value: December 18, 1865
timeline:
- date: 1861-04-12
  title: Fort Sumter attacked
  description: Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, beginning the American Civil War.
- date: 1862-09-22
  title: Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
  description: President Abraham Lincoln issues the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring slaves in rebellious states will be freed.
- date: 1863-01-01
  title: Emancipation Proclamation takes effect
  description: Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation officially frees enslaved people in Confederate states.
- date: 1863-07-03
  title: Battle of Gettysburg ends
  description: The three-day Battle of Gettysburg concludes with a Union victory, marking a turning point in the war.
- date: 1864-11-08
  title: Lincoln re-elected
  description: Abraham Lincoln defeats General George B. McClellan in the presidential election, securing continued Union war effort.
- date: 1865-03-04
  title: Lincoln's second inaugural address
  description: "Lincoln delivers his second inaugural address, calling for reconciliation: 'With malice toward none, with charity for all.'"
- date: 1865-04-09
  title: Lee surrenders at Appomattox
  description: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the Civil War.
- date: 1865-04-14
  title: Lincoln assassinated
  description: John Wilkes Booth shoots President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre; Lincoln dies the following morning.
- date: 1865-12-18
  title: 13th Amendment ratified
  description: The 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery throughout the United States, is ratified and becomes part of the Constitution.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_issues_in_the_American_Civil_War"
  title: American Civil War and women
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The Civil War's conclusion abolished slavery across the United States and established federal authority over the states, but left the country fractured and facing the immense challenge of Reconstruction. The war's end triggered massive demographic shifts, economic reorganization, and a century-long struggle over civil rights that would define American politics.
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- civil_war
- ceasefire
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- transformation
- collapse
impactRadius: national
velocity: gradual
predictability: emergent
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: systemic
lifecycleClass: transition
metaDescription: Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, ending the Civil War and abolishing slavery.
wikidataQid: Q7458514
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260312063604/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_issues_in_the_American_Civil_War"
  capturedAt: 2026-03-12
  label: American Civil War and women
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_issues_in_the_American_Civil_War"
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/War_of_the_Rebellion_Atlas_Plate_172.jpg/1280px-War_of_the_Rebellion_Atlas_Plate_172.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/War_of_the_Rebellion_Atlas_Plate_172.jpg/800px-War_of_the_Rebellion_Atlas_Plate_172.jpg"
  caption: Plate 172 of the "Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies," containing illustrations of uniforms worn by Union and Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War
  credit: United States Department of War · via Wikipedia
  width: 11152
  height: 6832
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Buffum%27s_Mineral_Water_-_Pittsburgh_-_American_Civil_War_Token_coin_%281860%27s%29_Charlelibb1_01.jpg/1280px-Buffum%27s_Mineral_Water_-_Pittsburgh_-_American_Civil_War_Token_coin_%281860%27s%29_Charlelibb1_01.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Buffum%27s_Mineral_Water_-_Pittsburgh_-_American_Civil_War_Token_coin_%281860%27s%29_Charlelibb1_01.jpg/800px-Buffum%27s_Mineral_Water_-_Pittsburgh_-_American_Civil_War_Token_coin_%281860%27s%29_Charlelibb1_01.jpg"
  caption: Buffum's Mineral Water - Pittsburgh - American Civil War Token coin (1860's) Charlelibb1 01
  credit: Buffum's Mineral Water.
  width: 873
  height: 844
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Buffum%27s_Mineral_Water_-_Pittsburgh_-_American_Civil_War_Token_coin_%281860%27s%29_Charlelibb1_02.jpg/1280px-Buffum%27s_Mineral_Water_-_Pittsburgh_-_American_Civil_War_Token_coin_%281860%27s%29_Charlelibb1_02.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Buffum%27s_Mineral_Water_-_Pittsburgh_-_American_Civil_War_Token_coin_%281860%27s%29_Charlelibb1_02.jpg/800px-Buffum%27s_Mineral_Water_-_Pittsburgh_-_American_Civil_War_Token_coin_%281860%27s%29_Charlelibb1_02.jpg"
  caption: Buffum's Mineral Water - Pittsburgh - American Civil War Token coin (1860's) Charlelibb1 02
  credit: Buffum's Mineral Water.
  width: 862
  height: 885
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Reynolds_%26_Co._New_York_Store_%28Iowa_-_American_Civil_War_Token%29_Wspdeals_01.png/1280px-Reynolds_%26_Co._New_York_Store_%28Iowa_-_American_Civil_War_Token%29_Wspdeals_01.png"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Reynolds_%26_Co._New_York_Store_%28Iowa_-_American_Civil_War_Token%29_Wspdeals_01.png/800px-Reynolds_%26_Co._New_York_Store_%28Iowa_-_American_Civil_War_Token%29_Wspdeals_01.png"
  caption: Reynolds & Co. New York Store (Iowa - American Civil War Token) Wspdeals 01
  credit: Reynolds &amp; Co. New York Store.
  width: 897
  height: 900
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: Percentage of U.S. population enslaved
  thenValue: ~13%
  thenYear: 1860
  nowValue: <0.01%
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Legal slavery abolished by 13th Amendment in 1865
- metric: Women in U.S. workforce
  thenValue: ~15%
  thenYear: 1865
  nowValue: 47%
  nowYear: 2023
  note: Civil War accelerated female labor force participation
- metric: U.S. military casualties
  thenValue: ~620,000
  thenYear: 1865
  nowValue: No comparable conflict
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Civil War deadliest American conflict by far
- metric: U.S. GDP as percentage of world GDP
  thenValue: ~20%
  thenYear: 1865
  nowValue: ~26%
  nowYear: 2023
  note: Industrial capacity expanded dramatically post-war
consequences:
- title: 13th Amendment abolishes slavery
  year: 1865
  description: Ratified December 18, 1865, the amendment permanently ended slavery throughout the United States and its territories, though it included an exception for punishment of crime
- title: Reconstruction Acts reshape Southern governance
  year: 1867
  description: Congress imposed military occupation and required Southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment, establishing Black male suffrage and establishing provisional military governments in ten Southern states
- title: 14th Amendment grants citizenship and equal protection
  year: 1868
  description: Ratified July 9, 1868, the amendment granted citizenship to formerly enslaved people and established equal protection under the law, though enforcement remained contested for generations
- title: Transcontinental Railroad completed
  year: 1869
  description: Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads met at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869, connecting East and West coasts and accelerating westward industrial expansion enabled by Union victory
- title: 15th Amendment prohibits race-based voting discrimination
  year: 1870
  description: Ratified February 3, 1870, the amendment prohibited states from denying voting rights based on race, though Southern states implemented literacy tests and poll taxes to circumvent it
- title: Jim Crow era solidifies racial segregation
  year: 1876
  description: With Reconstruction's end following the Compromise of 1877, Southern states rapidly enacted segregation laws, effectively nullifying many postwar civil rights gains for the next century
culturalContext:
topMusic:
- title: Battle Hymn of the Republic
  artist: Julia Ward Howe (lyrics)
  year: 1861
  note: Published in The Atlantic Monthly; became Northern anthem during and after the war
topFilms: []
topTVShows: []
zeitgeistNote: 1865 predates commercial phonograph recording (Edison, 1877) and film (Lumière brothers, 1895). Civil War-era culture centered on live music, theater, newspapers, and photography. Abraham Lincoln's assassination in April 1865 dominated national consciousness at year's end; Walt Whitman's poetry collection 'Drum-Taps' (1865) captured the war's impact on American consciousness.
relatedQueries:
- American Civil War causes and timeline
- 13th Amendment abolition of slavery 1865
- Reconstruction era policies after Civil War
- women's roles during American Civil War
- Civil War casualties statistics
- Abraham Lincoln assassination April 1865
- Southern slavery to Jim Crow transition
- 15th Amendment voting rights history
