Battle of gettysburg currier lithograph ives july 3 1863

Civil War Timeline

  • Election of 1860

    Election of 1860

    The Election of 1860 was when Abraham Lincoln won
    No one in the south voted because they thought that Lincoln wanted to take away slavery
    It is significant because it demonstrated the divisions within the United States
  • South Carolina Secedes

    South Carolina Secedes

    After the Election of 1860 South Carolina secedes
    The South wanted to expand slavery, but after the election, they had thought that Abraham Lincoln would end slavery altogether
    With that being said they threatened to leave after that and form a country of their own
  • Attack on Fort Sumter

    Attack on Fort Sumter

    The Attack on Fort Sumter was a battle that was the start of the civil war
    The war lasted for about four years, cost the lives of about 620,000 American lives
    Freed about 3.9 million enslaved people from bondage
  • Battle of Bull Run/Manassas

    Battle of Bull Run/Manassas

    The battle of the bull run or aka The battle of First Manassas was the first major battle of the American Civil war
    On July 21, 1861, Union and Confederate armies clashed near Manassas Junction, Virginia, the Confederate victory gave the South a surge of confidence and shocked many in the North
    The goal for this battle was to block to Union army on the confederate capital, by defending the railroad junction at Manassas
  • Battle of Antietam

    Battle of Antietam

    The battle of Antietam ended the confederate invasions of Maryland
    It was a decisive engagement that halted the Confederate invasion of Maryland, an advance that was regarded as one of the greatest Confederate threats to Washington, D.C
    It was later a victory for the confederates
  • Battle of Fredericksburg

    Battle of Fredericksburg

    The battle of Fredericksburg was the first major instance of urban warfare in the civil war
    The battle stands as one of the greatest confederate victories
    The war signaled a low-point of the war for the union
  • Emancipation Proclamation

    Emancipation Proclamation

    The Emancipation Proclamation was an order by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln to free slaves in 10 states
    It impacted the confederacy because it proclaimed the freedom of slaves in the ten Confederate states
    This accomplished a lot and gave African Americans the chance to fight in the war
  • Battle of Vicksburg

    Battle of Vicksburg

    The Battle of Vicksburg was a great victory for the Union and it gave control of the Mississippi River to the Union
    By having control of the river, Union forces would split the Confederacy in two and control an important route to move men and supplies
  • Battle of Gettysburg

    Battle of Gettysburg

    The war ended Confederate General Robert E. Lee's ambitious second quest to invade the North and bring the Civil War to a swift end
    This was the turning point in the Civil War, costing the Union 23,000 killed, wounded, or missing in action
    The Civil War effectively ended with the surrender of General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in April 1865
  • 54th Massachusetts Fight at Fort Wagner

    54th Massachusetts Fight at Fort Wagner

    The battle of fort Wagner was an unsuccessful assault led by the 54th Massachusetts African American infantry, famously depicted in the movie Glory
    Union Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and 272 of his troops are killed in an assault on Fort Wagner
    The 54th Massachusettes is mostly famous for the regiments of black soldiers
  • Gettysburg Address

    Gettysburg Address

    Lincoln's main purpose was to urge everyone to honor those who had died in the battle of Gettysburg by striving to maintain the kind of nation imagined by America's founders
    The address was important because it delivered one of the most famous speeches in United States history at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery on November 19, 1863
  • Sherman's March to the sea

    Sherman's March to the sea

    Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. The purpose of Sherman's March to the Sea was to frighten Georgia's civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause
  • 13th Amendment Passed

    13th Amendment Passed

    "The 13th amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, passed the Senate on April 8, 1864, and the House on January 31, 1865. On February 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures."
  • Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse

    Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse

    "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. Desertions were mounting daily, and by April 8 the Confederates were surrounded with no possibility of escape."

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