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Lincoln Wins Presidency
Lincoln defeats three other candidates. Fear spreads throughout the southern states that Lincoln will abolish slavery. -
Lincoln's Innaugeration
Inaugurated as first Republican president and gives his inaugural address -
Battle at Fort Sumter--Civil War Begins
General Beauregard's Confederate artillery opened fire on Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Beauregard's bombardment lasted for thirty-three hours until Union Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort. -
Battle of Antietam Creek
The Battle of Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland, occurs, and becomes the bloodiest one-day engagement of the Civil War. General Lee invades the North in an attempt to isolate Washington, D.C., but finds himself thwarted by General McClellan and the Union forces. McClellan fails to follow Lee's retreat, and a frustrated Lincoln consequently removes him from his command. Following this defeat Lincoln plans the Emancipation Proclamation. -
Lincoln Issues Emancipation Proclamation
In the document, Lincoln frees all slaves in Confederate or contested areas of the South. Slaves in non-Confederate border states and in parts of the Confederacy under Union control are not included. -
Battle of Gettysberg
The Battle of Gettysburg, the war's greatest engagement.General Lee tries to take Washington, D.C., from the west with 75,000 troops. General George E. Meade, who replaced McClellan, meets him accidentally at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. After days of battle and loss, Lee's troops retreat across the Potomac, never to return to the North. For the remainder of the war, Lee will fight on the defensive. -
Gettysburg Address
Lincoln makes his famous Gettysburg Address -- consisting of three short paragraphs -- on the bloodstained battlefield. Ceremonies take place which include the dedication of a national cemetery. -
Lincoln Reelected
Abraham Lincoln is reelected as President of the United States, with Andrew Johnson as his vice president. Along with 55 percent of the popular vote, Lincoln wins 212 electoral votes to McClellan's 21. -
Thirteenth Amendment Passes
the House of Representatives passed the Thirteenth Amendment, which made slavery illegal in the United States. The Thirteenth Amendment had two sections. Section one read: “Neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Section two stated that Congress had the power to pass legislation to enforce the abolition of slavery. -
Surrender at Appomattox--End of the Civil War
After Union forces capture much-needed Confederate supplies at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Grant, marking the end of the Civil War -
Lincoln Shot
Actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth shoots President Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., at around 10:15 p.m. -
Lincoln Dies
Abraham Lincoln dies the next day after being shot, Vice President Andrew Johnson is sworn in as the seventeenth President of the United States.