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Kansas-Nebraska Act passed
The Kansas Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri compromise and allowed for popular sovereignty -
Abraham Lincoln elected president
Lincoln took office following the 1860 presidential election, in which he won a plurality of the popular vote in a four-candidate field. -
South Carolina votes to secede from the United States
a secession convention convened in Columbia on December 17 and voted unanimously, 169-0, to declare secession from the United States. -
Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy
Once Virginia seceded, the Confederate government moved the capital to Richmond -
Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina -
First Battle of Bull Run is fought
The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of Manassas, marked the first major land battle of the American Civil War -
Jefferson Davis elected president of the Confederacy
He ran unopposed and was elected to serve for a six-year term. Davis had already been serving as the temporary president for almost a year. -
The Merrimac and the Monitor fight of the Virginia coast
The Battle of Hampton Roads, also referred to as the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack or the Battle of Ironclads, was a naval battle during the American Civil War. -
Robert E. Lee is named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
Robert E. Lee assumed command on June 1, 1862, in a battle to defend the city of Richmond from Union forces. -
Battle of Antietam
Antietam, was the deadliest one-day battle in American military history -
Emancipation Proclamation is announced
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. -
Republican Party is formed
In Ripon, Wisconsin, former members of the Whig Party meet to establish a new party to oppose the spread of slavery into the western territories -
Lincoln suspends habeas corpus
On April 27, 1861, Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia to give military authorities the necessary power to silence dissenters and rebels. -
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Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh was an early battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee -
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Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War -
Confederates surrender at Vicksburg
On July 4, 1863, Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton surrendered the city of Vicksburg and the Confederate garrison defending it to Major General Ulysses S. Grant. -
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New York City draft riots
The New York Draft Riots occurred in July 1863, when the anger of working-class New Yorkers over a new federal draft law during the Civil War sparked five days of some of the bloodiest and most destructive rioting in U.S. history. -
Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address
On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered a short speech at the close of ceremonies dedicating the battlefield cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. -
Richmond falls to the Union Army
On the morning of Sunday April 2, 1865 Confederate lines near Petersburg broke after a nine month seige. The retreat of the army left the Confederate capital of Richmond, 25 miles to the north, defenseless. -
Atlanta is captured
Union forces commanded by William Tecumseh Sherman overwhelmed and defeated Confederate forces defending the city under John Bell Hood. -
Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election
President Abraham Lincoln defeated General George B. McClellan, by a wide margin of 212–21 in the electoral college, with 55% of the popular vote. -
Sherman begins his March to the Sea
On November 15, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman begins his expedition across Georgia by torching the industrial section of Atlanta and pulling away from his supply lines. -
Congress passes the 13th Amendment
Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. -
Freedman’s Bureau is created
On March 3, 1865, Congress passed An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans. -
Lincoln gives his second inaugural address
When Lincoln gave that address on March 4, 1861, seven southern states had already seceded from the nation, and civil war was imminent. -
Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox
In Appomattox Court House, Virginia, Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 Confederate troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War -
President Lincoln assassinated
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was assassinated by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth -
John Wilkes Booth is killed
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865.
