The Senate's Civil War

The United States Senate played a crucial role during the Civil War. Although the history of the war is often told from the perspective of President Abraham Lincoln and his military commanders, the Senate faced war-related issues even before Lincoln took the oath of office, and continued to influencenational events throughout the war. In the post-war Reconstruction years, senators led the debates over emancipation, civil rights, and the readmission of Southern states to representation, and they proposed constitutional amendments to guarantee rights of citizenship. Throughout this long period of national crisis, the Senate also fulfilled its oversight andlegislative responsibilities, passing a remarkable collection of landmark bills.In commemoration of the sesquicentennial of these pivotal events, this is the story of the Senate's Civil War.