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Power of 50

The Civil War

Freedom and 49 other ways it changed American life

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Military advances

In what's considered the first modern war, both sides developed equipment and tactics that would be refined in later conflicts:

32. Minié ball bullets, cartridge ammunition

33. Repeating rifles

34. First machine guns

35. Submarines

36. Hot-air balloons

37. Soldier ID tags

38. Land mines

39. Ironclad ships

40. Trench warfare

Next: What Civil War slang is still with us today? >>

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