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The naming of the Civil War has a history that dates back to even before the war started. In 1860 and 1861 before fighting started, parties on both sides called what was to come a Civil War, however once fighting broke out, less concrete names were used. Lincoln himself started the war by calling the Confederacy an insurrection, but then moved more towards rebellion as a means to further discredit the actions of the Confederacy. - Ewan H
Some of the most popular names the Confederates used during the war involved mentions of enslaved people like the Abolition War and Republican War as a means of getting more Southerners mad enough to fight. These naming conventions were adopted by abolitionists in the North, however, and used as a way to try and push for the war being about slavery. Of these names that mention slavery, the Slaveholders’ Rebellion was the most popular, but this name did not reach ubiquitous use due to the attempts at reunion and lingering racial politics. - Ewan H
After the Confederacy was defeated, they attempted to save face through the naming conventions of the war (to some extent). Names like The War between the States and the War of the Confederates were being pushed by Southern histories directly after the war. The Southerners rejected the notion that there was any rebellion or insurrection, and that the Confederacy fought nobly for their views, as outlined in the Lost Cause. - Ewan H
From the beginning of the war, rebellion appeared to be the most common name used in the North and by Abraham Lincoln. This name, however, supports the Union's perspective of the war, which is that the South rebelled against them and tried to overthrow their form of government. This places most of the blame on the South. However, calling the war a “civil war” is more objective and allows both sides to define the war as they wanted and not place blame on either side, making it the most publicly used name. -Emily B
Something I found interesting was Abraham Lincoln first used the word “insurrection” but then used the term “rebellion” in his messages. Lincoln's use of the word “rebellion” rather than “insurrection” shows how carefully he defined the Civil War. He thought it was better suited for the North's perspective on the fight and how the South was to blame for this fight. (Hannah E.)