Mar 2, 2015 9:00 am103 views
The American Civil War came to an end 150 years ago with the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. Five days later, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. What role did slavery play in the Confederate defeat? And how might history have been different if Lincoln had lived? University of Illinois historian Bruce Levine (pronounced La-VEEN) has written extensively about the war and its consequences. His 2013 book, "The Fall of the House of Dixie," traced how fighting the war transformed the South from within. He spoke with News Bureau social sciences editor Craig Chamberlain.