-
Lincoln's First Election
Abraham Lincoln is elected as the 16th President of the United States. This creates tension between the North and the South that eventually leads to the South seceeding from the North. -
South Caroline Seceeds
After the election of Abraham Lincoln, South Carolina decided that federal government was out to get them and the only way to protect their morals was to seceed from the nation. This sparked a trend and by the time of Lincoln inaguration, seven more states had seceeded. -
Establishment of the Confederate States of America
When all eleven seceeded states joined together to fight off the Union under the name of the Confederacy. Gathered their full team after the battle of Fort Sumter. -
First Battle of Bull Run
First major land battle between Confederates and the Union. The Union was tragically crushed and this showed the power of the Confederacy. -
First Confiscation Act
The Confiscation Act of 1861 stipulated that all property (including slaves) "used or employed, in aiding, abetting, or promoting . . . insurrection or resistance to the laws" of the United States "to be lawful subject of prize and capture wherever found; and it shall be the duty of the President of the United States to cause the same to be seized, confiscated, and condemned." It was a crucial first step towards worldwide emancipation. -
Trent Affair
When Chalres Wilkes, a U.S. Naval Officer, capture two Confederate envoys aboard the British mail ship, the Trent. This caused for a diplomatic dispute between American and Great Britain because Britain believed this went against their neutral position. Not wanting to start a separate war with Britain, the Union immediately smoothed things over. This showed the Britain was going to defend the positon of neutrality and not side with either the Union or the Confederates. -
First Income Tax
The Union sets up the first income tax in order to financially support the war. The tax was based on the income of the public and the more income you had, the higher you were taxed. The average tax rate was 3% for someone with an income of $600 to $10,000. -
Monitor v. Merrimack
On March 8, 1862, from her berth at Norfolk, the Confederate ironclad Virginia steamed into Hampton Roads where she sank Cumberland and ran Congress aground. On March 9, the Union ironclad Monitor having fortuitously arrived to do battle, initiated the first engagement of ironclads in history. The two ships fought each other to a standstill, but Virginia retired. -
Shiloh
One of the major early engagements of the American Civil War (1861-65). The battle began when the Confederates launched a surprise attack on Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85) in southwestern Tennessee. After initial successes, the Confederates wereunable to hold their positions and were forced back,resulting in a Union victory. Both sides suffered heavy losses, with more than 23,000 total casualties, and the level of violence shocked North and South alike. -
Capture of New Orleans
When the Union captured the Confederate city of New Orleans. This was a huge win for the Union and a huge loss for the Confederates. It allowed the Union to control all of the Mississippi which was a vital way for the Confederacy to communicate and transport supplies. -
Homestead/Morrill Land Grant Acts
The Homestead Act opened up settlement in the western United States, allowing any American, including freed slaves, to put in a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land. By the end of the Civil War, 15,000 homestead claims had been established, and more followed in the postwar years. Eventually, 1.6 million individual claims would be approved; nearly ten percent of all government held property for a total of 420,000 square miles of territory. -
Second Confiscation Act
Congress passed the Second Confiscation Act, which extended the power of the Union military to free slaves in the Confederacy. The Union military granted freedom to blacks escaping to Union lines and enlisted them in ancillary positions. -
Harper's Ferry
Battle in which the Confederates surrounded the small town of Harper's Ferry on three sides and took an amazingly easy victory. Sparked confidence in Confederacy and showed the Union that this war was serious. -
Antietam
Generals Robert E. Lee and George McClellan faced off near Antietam creek in Sharpsburg, Maryland, in the the first battle of the American Civil War to be fought on northern soil.Though McClellan failed toutlilize his numerical superiority to crush Lee’sarmy, he was able to check the Confederate advance intothe north. Aftera string ofUnion defeats, this tacticalvictory provided Abraham Lincoln the political cover he needed to issue his Emancipation Proclamation. Though the result of the battle w -
Emancipation Proclomation
Proclomation created by Abraham Lincoln that declared all Confederate slaves will from thenceforth be free. It didn't free a single slave but it turned the war into a battle for human freedom instead of a fight to preserve the nation. -
National Draft Law
The Conscription Act that passed Congress on March 3, 1863, is often cited as "the first draft in the North" or words to that effect. Drafting in the North, under this act, began more than a year after the Confederate conscription act, which was approved April 16, 1862. This has been cited as evidence of different abilities or enthusiasm on the two sides in the Civil War. But this ignores the fact that the drive to draft in the North began less than three months after the Confederate conscriptio -
Habeas Corpus Suspended
Act of Congress that authorized the president of the United States to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in response to the United States Civil War and provided for the release of political prisoners. -
Vicksburg
Union forces waged a campaign to take the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi, which lay on the east bank of the Mississippi River, halfway between Memphisto the northand New Orleansto the south.The capture of Vicksburg divided the Confederacy and proved the military genius of Union General Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85). -
Capture of Atlanta
A battle in Atlanta that ended with the Confederacy losing and the Union causing an evacuation of the city so they could burn in down. The victory greatly increased northern morale and is credited for aiding the reelection of Abraham Lincoln over George Mcclellan -
Lincoln's Re-election
Lincoln is re-elected as President. The re-election terminates any ideas of peace being made between the Union and the Confederacy. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
the most destructive campaign against a civilian population during the Civil War (1861-65), began in Atlanta on November 15, 1864, and concluded in Savannah on December 21, 1864. Union general William T. Sherman abandoned his supply line and marched across Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean to prove to the Confederate population that its government could not protect the people from invaders. He practiced psychological warfare; he believed that by marching an army across the state he would demonstrat -
Capture of Richmond
Ulysses S. Grant lead Union forces into Richmond and defeated the Confederates, thus securing Richmond for the Union. An impending sign of the Confederacy's demise. -
Surrender at Appomattox
With his army surrounded, his men weak and exhausted, Robert E. Lee realized there was little choice but to consider the surrender of his Army to General Grant. After a series of notes between the two leaders, they agreed to meet on April 9, 1865, at the house of Wilmer McLean in the village of Appomattox Courthouse. The meeting lasted approximately two and one-half hours and at its conclusion the bloodliest conflict in the nation's history neared its end. -
Lincoln's Assassination
Shortly after 10 p.m. on April 14, 1865, actor John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential box at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C., and fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln. As Lincoln slumped forward in his seat, Booth leapt onto the stage and escaped through the back door. A doctor in the audience rushed over to examine the paralyzed president. Lincoln was then carried across the street to Petersen's Boarding House, where he died early the next morning. -
Thirteenth Amendment
The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "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."