Query: The American Civil War took place in the southern United States.

Relevant passages:
American Civil War <=SEP=> The American Civil War was fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865 . After a long standing controversy over slavery and state 's rights , war broke out in April 1861 , when Confederates attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina , shortly after Abraham Lincoln was elected . The nationalists of the Union proclaimed loyalty to the U.S. Constitution . They faced secessionists of the Confederate States of America advocating states ' rights to perpetual slavery and its expansion in the Americas .   Among the 34 U.S. states in February 1861 , seven Southern slave states individually declared their secession from the U.S. to form the Confederate States of America . The Confederacy grew to include eleven states ; it claimed two more border states ( Kentucky and Missouri ) , the Indian Territory , and the southern portions of the Union 's western territories of Arizona and New Mexico , which was organized and incorporated into the Confederacy as Confederate Arizona . The Confederacy was never diplomatically recognized by the United States government , nor was it recognized by any foreign country ( although Britain and France granted it belligerent status ) . The states that remained loyal , including the border states where slavery was legal , were known as the Union or the North .   The North and South quickly raised volunteer and conscription armies that fought mostly in the South over four years . During this time many innovations in warfare occurred , including the development and use of iron-clad ships , ultimately changing naval strategy around the world . The Union finally won the war when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the battle of Appomattox , which triggered a series of surrenders by Confederate generals throughout the southern states . Four years of intense combat left 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers dead , a higher number than the number of American military deaths in World War I and World War II combined , and much of the South 's infrastructure was destroyed . The Confederacy collapsed , slavery was abolished and 4 million slaves were freed . The Reconstruction Era ( 1863 -- 1877 ) overlapped and followed the war , with the process of restoring national unity , strengthening the national government , and granting civil rights to freed slaves throughout the country . The Civil War is arguably the most studied and written about episode in American history .

South Carolina <=SEP=> South Carolina -LSB- saʊθ_kærəˈlaɪnə -RSB- is a state in the southeastern region of the United States . The state is bordered to the north by North Carolina , to the south and west by Georgia across the Savannah River , and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean .   South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution , doing so on May 23 , 1788 . South Carolina became the first state to vote to secede from the Union on December 20 , 1860 . After the American Civil War , it was readmitted into the United States on June 25 , 1868 .   South Carolina is the 40th most extensive and the 23rd most populous U.S. state . Its GDP as of 2013 was $ 183.6 billion , with an annual growth rate of 3.13 % . South Carolina comprises 46 counties . The capital is Columbia with a 2013 population of 133,358 ; whilst its largest city is Charleston with a 2016 population of 134,385 . The Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin is the largest metropolitan area with a 2013 population of 850,965 .   South Carolina is named in honor of King Charles I of England , under whose reign the English colony was first formed , with Carolus being Latin for `` Charles '' .