American Civil War

April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865

In February of 1861, fearing Abraham Lincoln’s opposition to slavery, seven Deep South states seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America. A month after he was inaugurated as President of the United States, an additional four slave states joined the Confederacy, and secessionist forces captured Fort Sumter in South Carolina, marking the start of the American Civil War. Though the war had a number of causes, the main dispute was over states’ rights to slavery. Lincoln ran on a platform that opposed its spread to new western states, which the South, whose economy was dependent on forced labor, considered to be an infringement on states’ rights. 

Czechs, like most immigrants, were often escaping oppression themselves and opposed slavery. Famously, many Central European immigrants in Texas refused to fight for the Confederacy and were hung. Immigration to Texas and other parts of North America slowed to a trickle during the years of the Civil War, but Texas already had a robust German, Austrian, and Czech (Moravian) population. After the defeat of the Confederacy and the emancipation of black slaves, Czech immigration resumed and remained strong through to the 20th century.