Which year did the Civil War end?

• A. 1861
• B. 1865
• C. 1863
• D. 1867

Answer: (B)

The end of the Civil War happened in 1865. The pivotal moment was when General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, which effectively stopped the major fighting. After that, other Confederate forces surrendered in the weeks and months that followed, and the country began rebuilding and rewriting its laws with slavery’s abolition codified later that year in the Thirteenth Amendment.

So, the other dates don’t fit: 1861 is when the war began, not when it ended; 1863 was a turning point with important battles and emancipation shifts but not the conclusion; 1867 is well after the war’s end.