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The Underground Railroad was in operation from 1800-1865. Slaves that wanted to escape the south fled to the north through a series of safehouses and were led by conductors such as Harriet Tubman and John Brown.
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The Kansas-Nebraska act created the two territories of Kansas and Nebraska, but more importantly allowed the citizens of the territories to decide whether to allow slavery or not. -
An abolitionist John Brown tried to initiate a slave revolt by taking over the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry. -
Abraham Lincoln was elected 16th President of the United States and was the first Republican elected into office. -
The first of eleven states to secede, South Carolina secedes due to the increased hostility towards slave states from the north.
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Confederate forces fire upon Fort Sumter, South Carolina, formally starting the civil war. -
Differences in belief divided the northern and southern states to the point of war. After South Carolina seceded it was only a matter of time before a formal start to the war. This happened at Fort Sumter. -
The first major battle of the civil war occurred just north of Manassas, Virginia near Bull Run. Confederate forces forced a retreat of Union forces in a important victory for the south. -
The only presidential election of the Confederate States of America held Jefferson Davis as its one and only president. -
On January 3rd, 1863 it was declaimed that all slaves in all Confederate states were to be freed. This did nothing though because the Confederates saw themselves as their own country and did not listen. -
The Unions victory gave a definite ending to Lee's attempt to invade the north and gave an important morale boost to the Union troops. -
General Sherman set out on a campaign to complete the anaconda plan to cut of Confederate supplies. Sherman captured Atlanta in the fall of 1864. -
Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse. -
John Wilkes Booth killed Abraham Lincoln on April 15, 1865. An avid theatre attendee, Lincoln was watching a show in his suit when he was shot in the back of the head whilst watching a show. -
Representatives from the seceding states meet in Montgomery, Alabama and form the Confederate States of America.
