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Pro and Anti Slavery flood in Kansas
Bitterly divided the territories
Cities of pro/anti-slavery supporters
Many more people went to Kansas and voted for slavery
Expelled Anti-Slavery supporters -
Abraham Lincoln wins a four-way race for President of the United States. Although he doesn't win a popular majority and isn't even on the ballot in nine Southern states, he earns enough electoral votes to beat all other opponents.
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South Carolina officially secedes from the Union, becoming the first state to do so.
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Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States. In his Inaugural Address he gives a stark warning to the South: he will not tolerate secession.
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The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is signed in Montgomery, Alabama.
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Confederate forces under General P.G.T. Beauregard bombard Major Robert Anderson and his Union soldiers at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War officially begins.
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Major Robert Anderson surrenders Fort Sumter to Confederate forces after two days of bombardment.
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Union General Ulysses S. Grant's forces are surprised at the town of Shiloh in Tennessee. The ensuing battle results in 13,000 Union and 10,000 Confederate casualties, more than in all previous American wars combined.
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Over the course of seven days of fighting, General Robert E. Lee attacks George McClellan's Union Army of the Potomac near Richmond, Virginia. Huge casualties cause McClellan to withdraw north towards Washington.
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Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. It frees all slaves in territory captured by the Union Army, and orders the enlistment of Black soldiers. From this point forward, the Civil War is a war over slavery.
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Congress enacts the first draft in American history, requiring every man to serve in the army unless he can furnish a substitute or pay the government $300. These escape provisions are wildly unpopular with workers and recent immigrants, and lead to draft riots in New York and other northern cities.
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From July 1st to July 4th, the Union Army under General Meade defeats Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. One of the bloodiest battles of the war, Gettysburg is a turning point, and marks the farthest advance of the Confederate Army into Northern territory.
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Far to the West on the Mississippi River, General Ulysses S. Grant takes Vicksburg after a long siege. At this point, the Union controls the entire river, cutting the Confederacy in two.
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The United States Congress approves the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which will abolish slavery.
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The Union Army captures Richmond, Virginia, which is nearly leveled by shelling and fire.
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Union General Sherman captures Atlanta and burns it to the ground.
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Lincoln is sworn in for his second term as President of the United States.
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General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant in a farmhouse in the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The war is over.
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Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.
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The 13th Amendment is ratified by the States. Slavery is abolished.
