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Kansas-Nebraska Act passed
The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. It also produced a violent uprising known as “Bleeding Kansas,” as proslavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote. -
Republican Party is formed
In Ripon, Wisconsin, the republican party is formed. Anti-slavery Whigs had begun meeting in the upper midwestern states to discuss the formation of a new party, which was the basis for the Republicans. -
Lincoln Inauguration
Abraham Lincoln, candidate of the antislavery Republican Party, is elected president. -
North Carolina Secedes
South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal Union. The victory of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election triggered cries for disunion across the slaveholding South. -
Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy
The Confederate government moved the capital to Richmond, the South's second-largest city. The move served to solidify the state of Virginia's new Confederate identity and to sanctify the rebellion by associating it with the American Revolution. -
Jefferson Davis Elected President of Confederates
Representatives of seceded states meet in Montgomery, Alabama, and form the Confederate States of America, electing Jefferson Davis as president. -
Confederates Attack Fort Sumter
The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, a federal outpost in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, marks the first military engagement of the American Civil War. After some 34 hours of bombardment, the fort surrenders on April 13, and Federal troops evacuate the fort the next day. -
Lincoln suspends habeas corpus
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. -
First Battle of Bull Run is Fought
The First Battle of Bull Run, or the First Battle of Manassas, takes place near Manassas in northern Virginia and ends in a Confederate rout of Union forces. -
The Merrimack and the Monitor Fight of the Virginia Coast
In the first battle of ironclad warships, the Merrimack clashes with the Union Monitor. Although the Union navy blockades 3,500 miles of the Confederate coastline during the war, the Confederates excel at running the blockade. -
Battle of Shiloh
In a fierce battle at Shiloh, in southwestern Tennessee, Union forces rally from almost near defeat to drive back the Confederate army. Both sides are immobilized for the next three weeks because of the heavy casualties, including more than 13,000 on the Union side and more than 11,000 on the Confederate side. -
Robert E. Lee is named commander of the army in Northern Virginia
Robert E. Lee assumes command of the confederates in a battle to defend the city of Richmond from Union forces. -
Battle of Antietam
The battle at Antietam, Maryland, is regarded as a Union victory in an otherwise bleak year for Union forces in the East. However, the casualties set a grisly record. In what marks the bloodiest single day of the war, the South loses 10,316 troops, and the North suffers casualties of 12,401. Following this battle, Lincoln shifts the focus of the war from preserving the Union to freeing enslaved people in the Confederacy. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
The battle of Fredericksburg was a major win for the Confederates and a defeat for the Union. Many Union soldiers have died in the battle and were forced to retreat and abandon Fredericksburg. The Union had more than twice the amount of casualties the Confederates had. This battle gave Confederates hope and faith in themselves again after their failure to take over Maryland. -
Emancipation Proclamation Issued
Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. It states that “all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” The proclamation also allows black men to serve in the Union army. Up until this time, the Confederate government and people had expected that the English and French governments would intervene on their side in the war, but the conversion of the struggle into a crusade against slavery makes European intervention impossible. -
The Battle of Chancellorsville
The battle of Chancellorsville was a major win for the Confederates; they bested the Union with a way smaller army. Confederate General Lee developed a great plan which involved half of his soldiers flanking and surprise attacking the Union soldiers. Also, during this battle, General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was severely injured by one of his own soldiers during a misfire. -
Battle of Gettysburg
After invading the North, Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee meet Union forces at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle rages over three days, involving heavy artillery duels and high casualties on both sides. The battle is considered a major turning point in the eastern theater. Lee withdraws and is forced to fight a defensive campaign for the rest of the war. -
Confederates Surrender at Vicksburg
In the western theater of the war, General Ulysses S. Grant lays siege to the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The victory leaves the Mississippi River completely under Union control and splits the Confederacy in half. -
New York City draft riots
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. Hundreds of people were killed, many more seriously injured, and African Americans were often the target of the rioters’ violence. -
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address was given in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was given by Abraham Lincoln. It was not even considered important when it was being given to the audience. It is important because it is the most quoted speech in History. The main idea of the Address was to express the equality of all men. Lincoln wanted to get the point across that the country was made with equality in mind. Our founding fathers did not want people treated differently. Peoples rights are very important. -
Election 1864
The Election of 1864 was between Lincoln and McClellan. Lincoln was running for reelection. Lincoln was a republican and McClellan was a democrat. Lincoln received the majority of the votes. He also received the majority of the Electoral College votes. This election took place in Washington, but many meetings were all over the country. It was an important turning point in history because it helped form our future. IT determined how we would end up today. -
Atlanta is Captured
General William T. Sherman captures Atlanta, Georgia. Sherman adopts a strategy of “total war” on his march through Georgia and the Carolinas. His troops destroy crops, supplies, railroads, bridges, and many small industries to weaken support for the war. -
Sherman begins his march to sea
This started in Atlanta Georgia and ended in Savannah Georgia. It included Union General William T. Sherman. When he abandoned his supply line and marched across to the Atlantic Ocean, he proved that the Confederate population was not protected. He wanted people to notice that their people weren't protected by their government. He believed that marching represented power. He divided 60,000 troops to help march. -
The 13th Amendment
It was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution says 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." It abolishes slavery in the United States. The 13th amendment was an important turning point in the civil war because it established slaves' rights and their ability to be free. -
Freedmans Bureau
The Freedman's Bureau was created in the south. It was created to help the slaves that were moving from slavery to freedom. It was run by the War Department. When slaves were considered free men, they could go there to help them transition better. The Bureau was very important not only to the creators of it but the slaves. They felt comfortable in this place. It was a turning point because it offered slaves a chance to be normal and act like humans. -
Second Inaugural Address
Lincoln used his Second Inaugural Address to touch on the question of Divine providence. He wondered what God's will might have been in allowing the war to come, and why it had assumed the terrible dimensions it had taken. He endeavored to address some of these dilemmas, using allusions taken from the Bible. Lincoln reiterates the cause of the war, slavery, in saying that "slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. " -
Richmond falls to the Union army
General Lee abandons Richmond and moves his army west in hopes of joining Confederate forces under General Johnston in North Carolina. -
Robert E. Lee Surrenders at Appomattox
General Lee is surrounded by Grant’s forces in Virginia. He finally surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9. -
Lincoln Assasinated
On April 14 President Lincoln is shot in Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., by John Wilkes Booth. The president dies on April 15. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes president. The death of Lincoln will make reconciliation between the North and South more difficult. -
John Wilkes Booth is Killed
John Wilkes Booth is killed when Union soldiers track him down to a Virginia farm 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Twenty-six-year-old Booth was one of the most famous actors in the country when he shot Lincoln during a performance at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., on the night of April 14. Booth was a Maryland native and a strong supporter of the Confederacy. As the war entered its final stages, Booth hatched a conspiracy to kidnap the president.