Summary: Chapter 6
Page 1: Approaching storm
The political balance between southern 'slave' states and northern 'free' states has held rock steady for 60 years, but falters after the acquisition of additional western lands
Page 2: Border States are the Key
As pro- and anti-slavery sentiments harden, states in the middle are up for grabs, feeling kinship with southern neighbors, but without real dependence upon slaves for economic survival
Page 3: The Voters Decide
With the pro-slavery vote split between three candidates, and most border states remaining neutral, Abraham Lincoln wins the presidency, delivering a crushing blow to southern hopes
Page 4: Virginia Breaks Away
When the key border state of Virginia tilts decisively toward the Confederacy, all hopes for an early end to the standoff evaporate, while the South wins a decisive early victory in battle
Page 5: The Real Fight Begins
As both sides rush to enlist volunteers, the North struggles against a talented and daring rebel leader, while Union forces fare better in the west, and Lincoln frees all southern slaves
Page 6: First-ever War Photos
Photographs document a titanic struggle between the well-supplied northern army, and a determined but smaller southern force defending high ground, protected by rivers
Page 7: High-water mark for the South
After brilliant success at Chancellorsville, Lee bets it all on an invasion of the North, but is turned back with crippling losses at Gettysburg, while western Union armies continue to advance
Page 8: Warships and Blockade Runners
With most of its ports bottled up by blockade, the South takes to the high seas to inflict wide-ranging damage on northern shipping, while the first battle of ironclads is a draw
Page 9: Confederate Hopes Fading
Grant and Lee slug it out with little result in Virginia, while Union naval forces take rebel strongholds, Sherman burns Atlanta, and resistance dwindles on his March to the Sea
Page 10: Starved Confederacy Collapses
Cut off from supplies and reinforcement, Lee is forced to surrender his starving army, while Richmond and Charleston burn, and a rogue southern sympathizer assassinates Lincoln
Page 11: Scenes of War
The camera captures the lives of troops, wagon trains, and the paraphernalia of war
Page 12: Living Through the Chaos
Far from the fighting, scenes of life in southern cities is captured on film
Page 13: Caught up in War
Soldiers do what they must, until peace is restored
Page 14: Pre-Industrial Technology on Display
Photographs reveal the final days of pre-industrial America, with wooden bridges, wood-burning locomotives, aqueducts and cable-drawn ferries