Civil War

By MLH4573

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin

    Uncle Tom's Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and it helped form the rift between the North and South. It was the greatest American propaganda novel ever written. Its effects helped start the Civil War.

  • Kansas Nebraska Act

    This act repealed the Missouri Compromise. It also enacted "popular soverignity" in Kansas and Nebraska. This would mean that the vote of the people would decide if the states would become slave or free states.

  • Dred Scott Decision

    Dred Scott was a slave who was taken by his master into free territory, where his master died. His master died, and Scott sued for his freedom. The court ruled that slaves were property and not citizens, and therefore didn't have the right to sue. They also went as far as to rule the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, saying Congress couldn't ban slavery in any territory.

  • Lincoln elected

    When Lincoln was elected, 7 states had already seceded. Lincoln had the tough presidency of keeping the Union together and fighting a war. For his acts of freeing the slaves and keeping the Union together, he is hailed as one of the greatest presidents.

  • South Carolina secedes

    The first state to secede, South Carolina seceded on January 11th, 1861. With the Nullification crisis, Jackson's Force Bill, etc. it was no suprise that South Carolina was the first to go. It always threatened secession, and it finally did it- and they stood alone for a little while. Soon other southern states followed.

  • Fort Sumter

    Lincoln was supplying Fort Sumter, a Union fort in Confederate territory. When the Confederacy heard of this, they demanded surrender, which was refused. And on April 11, 1861 the Confederacy Army began bombarding the fort. Congress declared war the next day.

  • Battle of Bull Run

    Union troops were on the way to capture RIchmond when Confederate troops fought them. Union troops fled back. Both sides of were illprepared.

  • Monitor and the Merrimac

    First engagement between two iron-clad ships. The ships were in the Chesapeake Bay and fought for 5 hours. The Monitor was Union and the Merrimac was Confederacy.

  • Battle of Antietam

    This was the first major battle of the war. The result was inconclusive. To this day, this battle is the bloodiest one day battles in history with 22,717 missing, injured or dead.

  • Emancipation Proclamation

    Lincoln freed all slaves in states that seceded, but didn't free slaves in border states. Lincoln gave this speech at a very crucial point- after a victory at Antietam. However, he couldn't enforce it because the south had created their own nation with their own government.

  • Battle of Gettysburg

    Union General George Meade fought against Confederacy General Robert Lee and won. The Confederacy had tried to invade the Union one other time prior, and it also didn't work. One of the deadliest battles of the war.

  • Wade Davis Bill

    Congress said that Reconstruction in the south was a legislative matter, not an executive matter. This was to weaken executive power. This was proposed by the Republicans, who felt that Lincoln was being too kind on the south, and wanted the Republican-dominated Congress to decide the fate of the south.

  • Sherman's March to the Sea

    Union General William Tecumseh Sherman captured Atlanta, Georgia. He then marched through to Savannah, destroying everything in his path.

  • Freedman's Bureau

    This was a government agency designed to help freed slaves. It was put into place by Abraham Lincoln. It's duties included encouraging southerners to get back to plantations without slaves, for slaves to seek employment, and much more.

  • Appomatox Courthouse

    What started as a battle turned into Lee's surrender. The terms were rather generous for Lee, considering they wouldn't even be tried for treason. However the states were not back in the Union left. Reconstruction now began.

  • Lincoln assassinated

    Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in Ford's Theater. Because of the timing of this assassination, Lincoln is still remembered greatly. Had Lincoln not been shot, he would have been in charge of messy Reconctruction, and we would view him much like the Republicans viewed Andrew Johnson.

  • Johnson's Amnesty Proclaimation

    His plan was a little more harsh than Lincoln's- anybody who had more than $20,000 in property had to personally plead with him. On top of that, each state had to abolish slavery and take an oath of loyalty.

  • Ratification of the 13th Amendment

    The 13th amendment freed slaves. In order for a state to be able to come back to the Union, this amendment had to be ratified. However, slaves did not recieve equal treatment, and often still felt like slaves.

  • Ratification of the 14th Amendment

    The 14th amendment gave slaves citizenship and the rights of citizens. This was huge, and a next step towards equality for slaves and whites. It was passed in response to Black Codes.

  • Ratification of the 15th Amendment

    This amendment gave free adult black males the right to vote. However, often times to get around the law people would put slaves to literacy tests before they were allowed to vote, and many didn't pass it. Women also didn't like it because they wanted suffrage too and they had majorly helped the abolitionist and suffrage cause.