Why was the Civil War named Civil when it wasn't civil at all?

Answer 1

The word civil does not just mean polite. It can also mean of or relating to the citizens of a country. A civil war is one that occurs between the people of a singe country rather than between two countries. Lots of countries have had civil wars. There are some people who will give you an argument about whether this particular conflict was truly a civil war. They will tell you that it is properly called The War Between the States. Of course it has also been called, the War of the Rebellion, the War of the Northern Aggression, the War for the Confederacy, the War for the Union and The Late Unpleasantness. Michael Montagne Actually America has never had a "civil war." A civil war is defined as a struggle between two or more factions for control of a central government. Since the Southern states seceded legally under the constitution as it existed at that time (a point upheld later by Lincoln's own Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon Chase, who said "Secession was legal." and the reason None of the Confederate leaders were ever tried for treason) there were two separate and functioning governments on the North American Continent. The United States of America and the Confederate States of America. You will note that all Military correspondence during the war in the "War of the Rebellion" records refer to the Confederate States as a separate entity. The Southern states never voiced any desire to rule in "Washington" and take over the entire country, their wish was merely to be able to leave and be left alone. So the correct term (and others are just fanciful) would be, as it was for the Colonists in 1776, the "War for Southern Independence."