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= Welcome to the Lexington, SC Civil War History Wiki! =

These pages were created and edited by 4th grade EAGLE students at Lexington Elementary School (LES). Please use the links to the left to find out more about Lexington and the Civil War.

__**Google Earth Tour of Lexington's Civil War History﻿ : **__ ﻿Download Google Earth and then save and open the created by LES' 4th grade EAGLE students.

__History of Lexington:﻿ __
The town of Lexington, South Carolina was formed in 1733. Lexington, S.C. was formed when the Congaree District was established as a buffer to protect the city of Charleston from the hostile Indian tribes. Two years later the district was renamed to Saxe-Gotha to lure German immigrants. The name was chosen in honor of the marriage of Princess Augusta of the German state of Saxe-Gotha to the British Prince of Wales. As a marketing concept, Saxe-Gotha was a success. The town of Lexington was not officially created until 1820.

Many events led to the American Civil War, or War Between the States. Abolitionists wanted slavery to end. Some abolitionists were William Lloyd Garrison, Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass. There was also the problem of the new states coming into the United States. Would they be free or slave?, Would the states maintain power or would the federal government have more power? The Civil War broke out in April 1861 with the first shots being fired at Fort Sumter.

 Credit: Riley, Louise J. __Sherman's Army Marches into South Carolina and Lexington County February 1865__. 2010.