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Lincoln Elected President
Abraham Lincoln is elected sixteenth president of the United States, the first Republican president in the nation who represents a party that opposes the spread of slavery in the territories of the United States. He was also the author of the Emancipation Proclamation. -
South Carolina Secedes
South Carolina Secedes from the Union, causing six other southern states to follow in January of the next year. This marks the creation of the Confederacy -
Jefferson Davis Appointed Confederate President
Jefferson Davis was appointed the first President of the Confederate States of America at Montgomery, Alabama. This is a position he would hold until elections can be arranged. He rallied the Confederate states and was a strong leader. -
Fort Sumter
Southern forces fire upon Fort Sumter, South Carolina, marking the formal beginning of the Civil War. -
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Civil War Key Events
20 significant events from the Civil War -
Bull Run (Manassas)
The Battle of Bull Run (or First Manassas), is fought near Manassas, Virginia. The Union Army under General Irwin McDowell initially succeeds in driving back Confederate forces under General Pierre Gustav Toutant Beauregard, but the arrival of troops under General Joseph Johnston initates a series of reverses that sends McDowell's army in a panicked retreat to the defenses of Washington. It is here that Thomas Jonathan Jackson will receive fame as "Stonewall" Jackson -
Monitor vs. Merrimack
The Monitor versus the Merrimack was the first major naval battle. The monitor was the union ship and the merrimack was the confederate one. It was important because it was the first battle between two iron clad ships. In the long run, it put the US on the track towards being the most powerful naval power in the world. -
Antietam
There were more bodies on the battlefield here than the other battles. That doesn't mean casualties because more deaths could follow from injuries, but it was still a bloody battle. -
Emancipation Proclamation
In the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln freed all of the slaves in the South. He did not free hem in the border states because he needed the border states to stay loyal to the union and, if he tried to free the slaves there, they would cross over and join the confederacy which would give them twice the amount of manufacturing and men. The Emancipation Proclamation was also a major step towards the freedom of slaves in the United States. -
Gettysburg
The battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the war towards Union victory. It occurred at the same time of the Battle of Vicksburg. After Vicksburg, Grant started pushing the confederacy southeast and Sherman took the troops from the west to the south After this, the South can no longer make offensive moves, they just retreat from the Union and, eventually, into the trap that Grant and the union have set up (between their two forces -
Battle of Vicksburg
This is the battle where the Union took over the Mississippi river. It occurred at the same time as Gettysburg. After the union secured the river, the south couldn't ship thing down it and it greatly hurt their war effort. -
Sherman Defeats Confederates
Boosted Northern moral and secured Lincoln’s reelection but squashed South’s hope for ever having a victory. Sherman starts his march to the sea. He was told to get back to border states as quickly as possible. As they do that, they burn everything they pass. Strategic because they did not want confederacy to retreat into the deep south and regroup. However, when the south is reaccepted into the Union, their economy is decimated and takes half a century to get them back on their feet. -
Lincoln Re-Elected
The fact that Lincoln was reelected shows where the Union's loyalty laid. The election was not a large ordeal because there weren't any serious opponents to him. Even after his reelection, however, he was soon assasinated after the end of the Civil war in 1865. -
13th Amendment Ratified
The 13th amendment stated that slavery had ended. It was a major step for the United Steps to having equality and it was also a major part of the Radical Republican Reconstruction Plan. -
Appomattox Courthouse
Lee surrenders, technically at the farmhouse next door because courthouse closed since it was a Sunday. The Civil War is onow fficially over. -
Assasination of Lincoln
John Wilkes Booth killed Lincoln at the Ford theater. With his death came Andrew Johnson becoming president. With Johnson as president, things changed drastically. Johnson was a democrat whereas LIncoln had been republican and his views varied from Lincoln's. -
Reconstruction Begins
Lincoln, Johnson, and the Radical Republicans all had a plan for reconstruction. They had to rebuild the US after the war. Lincoln began his plan when the war was still going on becuase he was so convinced that they were going to win (which they did). After he died, Johnson proposed his plan but it was overcome by the Radical Republican Plan. -
Johnson Impeached
Andrew Johnson was the first and one of only two presidents to be impeached. It's remarkable that he was impeached because it means that his views were so widely distrusted and disliked that the rest of the legislature and the people decided he was not to be trusted in that position of power any longer. -
14th Amendment Ratified
The 14th amendment stated that everyone had the same rights as citizens. This included the previous slaves. They were now considered citizens of the United States and, in that, had the same rights as any other person, no matter the color. -
15th Amendment Ratified
The 15th amendment stated that all men could vote, no matter their color. However, it did not include women in it and they would not be included until the 19th amendment, but it was still a very large step in the right direction for the country as a whole. -
Reconstruction Ends
This is important because this is when the north took the military watch that they had placed in the south. It showed that the country was on its way to become successful again.