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Some of our finest [ about ] Approved Articles Developed Articles (over 700) Article of the Week [ about ] The U.S. Civil War in the U.S. 1861-65, saw the Union (North), led by Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant defeat the breakaway Confederacy (South) led by Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee and end slavery. Reunion was accomplished by a difficult period of Reconstruction, 1865-1877, in which the freed slaves were given the right to vote. The war was between the United States (the "Union") and eleven Southern states which declared that they had a right to secession and formed the Confederate States of America, led by President Jefferson Davis. The thought "Cotton is King", meaning it was so powerful an economic force that European powers would help them win. The Union, led by Lincoln and the Republican Party, rejected any right of secession. They said they would not interfere with slavery inside the South, but would put it on the path to eventual extinction by preventing its expansion. Fighting began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Lincoln called for an invasion force to recapture the fort, and four more states, rejecting coercion, joined the Confederacy to make 11 in all. [more...] New Draft of the Week [ about ] Naval guns came into general use in the West in the 14th century. They replaced the tactics or ramming or boarding, and became the main naval weapon when it was realized they could sink an enemy ship some yards away, regardless of the wind. From 1500 to 1941 all the major fleets were built around platforms that could shoot bigger and more accurate guns. The aircraft carrier proved itself at the Battle of Pearl Harbor in 1941, ending the era. Naval guns are now used primarily in defense against small boat or missile attacks. First guns: 15th century The first guns were tubes built up from bars of iron secured with iron bands. These guns were breechloaders with a separate gunpowder chamber, or servidor, which was wedged into the breech after the stone, or ball, had been inserted. Muzzle-loading cast-bronze guns came into use soon after the wrought-iron breechloaders. When the Turks besieged Constantinople in 1453, they cast, on the field of battle, bronze guns that weighed 19 tons and hurled 600-pound (270-kg) granite stones. Cast-iron guns came into being soon after cast-bronze guns. Despite distinct advantages of cast iron, problems of controlling the quality of iron retarded its acceptance, and for centuries both cast-iron and cast-bronze guns were used. [more...] [more...]