The American Civil War of 1861 to 1865 greatly affected the financial system of the United States of America, creating vast new war-related expenditures while disrupting the flow of tax revenue from the Southern United States, organized as the Confederate States of America. The act of Southern secession prompted a brief and severe business panic in the North and a crisis of public confidence in the Federal government. The government's initial illusions of a quick military victory proved ephemeral and in the wake of Southern victories the federal government found it increasingly difficult to sell the government bonds necessary to finance the war effort.