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Jefferson Davis comes out in favor of secession for the first time.
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After being photographed by Matthew Brady, Abraham Lincoln speaks at the Cooper Institute in New York City.
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The Democratic Party holds its convention in Charleston, SC. When the pro-slavery platform is rejected, delegates from 8 southern states leave. The remaining delegates adjourn after being unable to agree on a candidate.
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Former members of the American and Whig parties meet in Baltimore, MD, to form the Constitutional Union party. Delegates nominate John Bell of Tennessee for president and Edward Everett of Massachusetts for vice-president.
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William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase and Abraham Lincoln of Illinois are the leading contenders from a field of 12 candidates. Lincoln wins on the third ballot. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, an outspoken, long-time abolitionist is chosen for vice-president.
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Southern delegates hold a National Democratic convention in Richmond. Party leaders urge a "wait and see" approach.
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Abraham Lincoln is elected President, with Hannibal Hamlin as his Vice President.
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Seven senators and 23 representatives from the southern states issue a manifesto urging secession and the organization of a Southern Confederacy.
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Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky proposes the Critttenden Compromise: It consists of six constitutional amendments and four resolutions that make major concessions to southern concerns:
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As a consequence of Lincoln’s election, a special convention of the South Carolina legislature votes to secede from the Union.
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Star of the West, an unarmed merchant vessel secretly carrying federal troops and supplies to Fort Sumter, is fired upon by South Carolina artillery at the entrance to Charleston harbor.
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Kansas is admitted as a state with a constitution prohibiting slavery.
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Delegates from six seceded states meet in Montgomery, Alabama, to form a government and elect Jefferson Davis President of the Confederate States of America.
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Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the sixteenth President of the United States.
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Fort Sumter is bombarded and surrenders to South Carolina troops led by P. G. T. Beauregard.
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Lincoln declares a state of insurrection and calls for 75,000 volunteers to enlist for three months of service.
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Lincoln orders a blockade of all Confederate ports.
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Colonel Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army.
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Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy.
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Confederate forces win a victory at the First Battle of Manassas. Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson earns the nickname “Stonewall” for his tenacity in the battle.
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General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Henry, Tennessee. Ten days later he accepts the “unconditional and immediate surrender” of Fort Donelson. These victories open up the state of Tennessee for Union advancement.
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Conscription is adopted in the Confederacy.
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Federal fleet commander David G. Farragut captures New Orleans.
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Stonewall Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley campaign begins successfully with a victory at the Battle of McDowell in Virginia.
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Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune publishes The Prayer of Twenty Millions, a plea for Lincoln to liberate slaves in the Union.
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The South is again victorious at the Second Battle of Manassas.
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The Battle of Antietam, Maryland, exacts heavy losses on both sides.
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President Lincoln issues the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
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General McClellan receives Lincoln’s order relieving him of command of the Army of the Potomac.
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Lee wins the Battle of Fredericksburg decisively.
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Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, which declares that slaves in the seceded states are now free.
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President Lincoln signs a federal draft act.
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Lee hands the Army of the Potomac another serious loss at the Battle of Chancellorsville. “Stonewall” Jackson is wounded during the battle. He will develop pneumonia and die on May 10.
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Confederate cavalry under Jeb Stuart clash with the Union mounts of Alfred Pleasonton in an all day battle at Brandy Station, Virginia. Some 18,000 troopers—approximately nine thousand on either side—take part, making this the largest cavalry battle on American soil. In the end, Stuart will hold the field. Yet this battle signals the rise and future domination of Union cavalry in the eastern theater.
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The Battle of Gettysburg is fought in Pennsylvania. General George G. Meade compromises his victory by allowing Lee to retreat South across the Potomac.
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After a long siege, Confederates surrender Vicksburg to Ulysses S. Grant, thus securing the Mississippi River for the Union.
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Violent riots erupt in New York City in protest of the draft.
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Confederates under General Braxton Bragg win a great tactical victory at Chickamauga, Georgia. Union General George H. Thomas wins the nickname "Rock of Chickamauga" for his stubborn defense of his position.
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Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address, in which he reiterates the nation’s fundamental principle that all men are created equal.
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After three days of battle, the Union victory at Chattanooga, Tennessee, opens the way for Union advancement into the heart of the Confederacy.
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Newly commissioned to the rank of lieutenant general, Ulysses S. Grant is given official authority to command all of the armies of the United States.
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The Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia is the first of a bloody series of month-long engagements between Grant and Lee.
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Battles at Spotsylvania Court House and Yellow Tavern impede Grant’s drive for Richmond. Confederate cavalry commander Jeb Stuart is killed at Yellow Tavern, May 11.
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The Battle of Cold Harbor results in heavy Union casualties. Grant prepares for a ten month siege of Petersburg.
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Lincoln signs a bill repealing the fugitive slave laws.
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Confederate forces under Jubal Early probe and fire upon the northern defenses of Washington, D.C., throwing the Capital into a state of high alert.
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Union Admiral David G. Farragut wins the Battle of Mobile Bay.
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Lincoln is reelected President, with Andrew Johnson as Vice President.
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Sherman leaves Atlanta and begins his “march to the sea,” in an attempt to demoralize the South and hasten surrender.
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General George Henry Thomas wins the Battle of Nashville, decimating John Bell Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee.
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Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolishes slavery throughout the United States.
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Columbia, South Carolina, is almost completely destroyed by fire, most likely set by Sherman’s troops.
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Lincoln is inaugurated as President for a second term.
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The Appomattox campaign begins, with Grant’s move against Lee’s defenses at Petersburg, Virginia.
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Petersburg falls, and the Confederate government evacuates its capital, Richmond. Confederate corps commander Ambrose Powell Hill is killed in action while attempting to rally his men.
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John Wilkes Booth shoots President Lincoln at Ford’s Theater; Secretary of State William H. Seward is stabbed and wounded in an assassination attempt inside his Washington home.
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Lincoln dies, and Andrew Johnson is inaugurated as President.
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Joseph E. Johnston surrenders to William T. Sherman in North Carolina; John Wilkes Booth is shot in a barn in Virginia and dies.
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Jefferson Davis is captured and taken prisoner near Irwinville, Georgia.
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The last issue of the Liberator is published. The newspaper has now becomes unnecessary because the slaves have been freed.
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The first day light bank robbery takes place in Liberty, Missouri. This was carried out by Jesse James and his gang, although no one is quite sure where Jesse James fits into this event.
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is founded in New York by Henry Bergh.
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Congress approves the minting of a five cent piece, know as the nickel. This eliminates the half dime.
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Thirty-ninth Congress approves the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
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Following the Civil War Tennessee becomes the first state readmitted to the Union.
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Congress establishes "general of the armies" and Ulysses S. Grant is immediately promoted to 4-star general and put in this position. William Tecumseh Sherman assumes the rank of Lt. General.
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The Atlantic Cable is established allowing transatlantic telegraph communication for the first time.
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A proclaimation of peace with Texas is issued by United States President Andrew Johnson.
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The first train robbery takes place. The Reno brothers get away with $13,000.
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Blacks in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto.
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Jesse James robs a bank in Savannah,Missouri. The attempt failed with one casualty.
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The first reconstruction act sets up five military districts in the South, each under the control of a military commander. The Army Appropriations Act is passed, lessening Johnsons' control on the army. The final act passed is The Tenure Office Act which states that Johnson cannot remove cabinet members without the Senate's consent.
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Congress passes the 2nd Reconstruction Act over Andrew Johnson's veto.
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Congress passes a bill admitting Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina into the Union. Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas, having refused to ratify the fourteenth amendment, were refused admission into the Union.
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Johnson vetoes the third reconstruction act which spells out election procedures in the South and reasserts congressional control over the Reconstruction. Congress overrides Johnsons' veto.
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Johnson suspends Stanton as Secretary of War after the two clash over reconstruction plans. Johnson places Ulysses S. Grant in the position.
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The United States officially takes possesion of Alaska from Russia. $7.2 million is paid for it.
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Congress looks into impeaching Johnson for his lack of effectiveness and unwillingness to follow through with reconstruction.
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Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry. Today this order is known as the farmers organization Grange.
