The 19th century had begun. It was full of promise for a nation in its infancy.
But only 12 years into the new century, the United States again found itself at war with Britain. This was the War of 1812. And less than 50 years later, in 1861, the country once more found itself at war. But this time the war was internal, a civil war. The Civil War lasted four terrible years. In 1865, victory for the Union kept the country together. After the war, reconstruction began. It was a painful healing process. Throughout the 1800s, the United States grew as people moved west by land and by water. Toward the end of the century, immigrants from all over the world were arriving.
