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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.)
Unfortunately, white Northerners didn't catch on to “Slaveholders' Rebellion” and “Abolition War”, despite the fact that those names accurately reflect one of the reasons behind the Civil War. White Northerners only recalled the war as a struggle to abolish slavery and defend the Union. However, it's very obvious that their commitment was to preserving the Union rather than abolishing slavery. Many people, including Lincoln, I believe, were reluctant to accept the war as a struggle for emancipation. (Hannah E.)
Lincoln's use of the term “insurrection” in the beginning of the war was carefully calculated. He used it in order to justify using military force against the Confederacy, as allowed by a law following the Whiskey Rebellion that let presidents quell civil unrest. He also used it to remove legitimacy from the Confederacy, because if he called it a civil war, it would make the Confederacy out to be an actual belligerent in a conflict instead of just a rebellious faction. (Ezra C.)
One thing that stuck out to me was the initial discussion over the usage of the word “rebellion” in legal language like the Constitution, and how some people after the fact saw that as a reason to use the word as the official name for the war. Others saw that as something of the past, a reaction to the time period, and did not think the word rebellion applied to the war anymore. The specific discussion between the title Rebellion and Civil War was particularly interesting as well, in particular how leaders of the time period used it (Lincoln using rebellion, Jefferson Davis using Civil War). - Caty
During the war Abraham Lincoln used the term “rebellion” most often when referring to what we now call the Civil War. This phrasing is deliberately used to make the confederate cause seem illegitimate. The conflict was not seen as a battle of nations, but a small section of the nation striking out against the greater portion of the country. This scheme highlights Lincoln's highest priority: keeping the war together, and not ending slavery. (Tanner Gillikin)
In the south, people often referred to the war using neutral terms in the immediate aftermath of the war, most commonly “The War Between the States”. However, in the early twentieth century, this would shift with the rise of the lost cause narrative. This would popularize names like “The War of Northern Aggression”. This would help in the attempts to shift the narrative around the war from being one about differing ideology of the two sides, to a tyrannical act of the North. (Tanner Gillikin)
For many African Americans, especially Frederick Douglass, they wanted to focus the name of the war on the issue of slavery. They would have called it “The Abolition War” or “The War of Emancipation”. These names would highlight the abject horror of slavery, and how it was the utmost important cause in why the Confederacy attempted to succeed. That is notably different from the more neutral names like “Civil War” which effectively glosses over the issue of slavery. (Tanner Gillikin)
It's amazing how a name can change the meaning of a war. This constant decision on what the war should be called and the way the name actively changes until “Civil War” was eventually decided on is really intriguing. Both the South and the North came up with different names to identify the conflict that was going on. Some common terms in the North were “Rebellion, Slaveholderrs' Rebellion, and Abolition War”, while the South had “Confederate War, War of Northern Aggression, and Late Unpleasantness”. Both sides focused on names that pitted blame on the other end, fueling this idea that one side was the cause of all this violence while the other was fighting for justice. The name “Civil War” gave both sides a leeway to both give and take responsibility for war that had taken place. (Lexi St. John)
During and after the Civil War, many African Americans were surveyed about what they called the war. While most of them named it the “Civil War,” Foster explains that some African Americans used names that cited slavery as one of the causes of the Civil War. Some of these names included, “Slavery War,” “Freedom War,” and “the War for Freedom.” - Lauren V.
Foster explains that the use of the name, “War between the States” became immensely popular during the 1950s and 60s with white southerners as racial and governmental tensions rose with the rise of civil rights movements. Foster explains that this name was used by white southerners to cite that states rights were the primary cause of the Civil War. - Lauren V.
Another name used by white southerners and white supremacists was, “The War of Northern Aggression.” Foster explains that this name was used in direct responses to southerners being displeased with the racial change that civil rights movements were causing. - Lauren V.
It is fascinating that the ultimate goal of using “Civil War” is to enable either side to pick their perceived cause of the war. At the end of the reading, Foster also mentioned “mutual innocence.” It is an interesting way to describe remaining attitudes surrounding the Civil War. -Sarah M.