How long did the American Civil war last and exactly how did it get started?

Dude, you're on the internet! Go to google or yahoo search and look up the civil war, i think there are like 37844892348978947 pages on it.

But uh, slavery had a lot to do with it. And I believe it was the South's attack on Fort Sumpter that started it. I could be wrong though.

The American Civil War lasted from 1861-65, the main cause was States Rights. The Civil War Started when the State of South Carolina Seceeded(left) from the Union, 10 more states followed South Carolina and formed the Confederate States of America, on April 2,1861 Confederate forces bombarded Ft. Sumpter in the harbor of Charleston, SC, because Federal forces refused to leave. The Civil War was effectively over by June of 1865, most claim it to have ended with the Surender of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, on April 9 1865, but this isnt true because their were still 100,000 confederate soldiers in the field, but General Lee set the example.

1861-1865. Seven states seceded from the Union - Union said they did not have the right to do that and declared war. Actually, it wasn't a "Civil" war. A Civil war is when two entities are fighting to control one government. The Southern states didn't want to control the Union government, they wanted to start their own.

Do your own homework don't you ever want to learn anything?

get a history book dude