Appomattox

When did the Civil War end? April 1865? August 1866? April 1877? Historian Michael Vorenberg delves into why each of these dates, among others, might be considered the final chapter of the bloodiest war ever fought on American soil. April 9 is the 160th anniversary of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Fighting continued, however, and after the last rebel armies formally surrendered, terroristic violence and intimidation marred the postwar settlement as white supremacists fought to deny the newly freed African-Americans their rights.

Further reading:

Lincoln's Peace: The Struggle to End the American Civil War by Michael Vorenberg