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Population of North and South
According to the census of 1860 the population of the United States numbered 31,443,321 persons. Approximately 23,000,000 of them were in the twenty-two northern states and 9,000,000 in the eleven states that later seceded. Of the latter total, 3,500,000 were slaves. -
Slavery in the South
The Southern slave population reached to over 3.9 million in 1860. -
Abraham Lincoln gives his Cooper Union speech.
Lincoln was not yet the Republican nominee for the presidency, as the convention was scheduled for May. It is considered one of his most important speeches. Some historians have argued that the speech was responsible for his victory in the presidential election later that year. -
pony express
The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. -
Lincoln becomes a candidate
Abraham Lincoln is selected as the U.S. presidential candidate for the republican party. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
Abraham Lincoln was elected into office. -
The first secession convention
The convention had been called by the governor and legislature of South Carolina once Lincoln's victory was assured. Delegates were elected on December 6, 1860, and the convention convened on December 17. Its action made South Carolina the first state to secede. -
The Crittenden Compromise.
The Crittenden Compromise was an unsuccessful proposal to permanently preserve slavery in the United States Constitution, and thereby make it unconstitutional for future congresses to end slavery. It was introduced by United States Senator John J. Crittenden -
South Carolina Secedes
South Carolina was the first state to secede the Union. Other states will follow. -
South Carolina issues a proclamation
South Carolina issues the "Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union", analogous to the United States Declaration of Independence. -
Mississippi Seceded
Mississippi seceded and joined the Confederates. -
Florida Seceded
Florida seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. -
Alabama secedes
Alabama secedes from the Union and Joins the Confederacy. -
Georgia secedes
Georgia Seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. -
Louisiana Secedes
Louisiana secedes from the Union and Joins the Confederacy. -
Lincolns Inauguration
Lincoln is inaugurated as the president of the United States. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
First Shots in the civil war, but there were no casualties. -
Virginia Secedes
Virginia secedes the Union and joins the Confederacy. -
Battle of Seven Pines
It was a two-day battle in the Peninsular Campaign, in which Confederate attacks were repulsed, fought 6 miles (10 km) east of the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. -
First Battle of Bull Run
It was the first major battle of the civil war. It was a confederate victory. -
Battle of Fort Henry
One of the first significant victories for the Union and Ulysses S. Grant. Helped Union Secure land and rivers in the area. -
Battle of Fort Donelson
The Union captured the Confederate fort. It opened the Cumberland River to the North. -
Battle of Shiloh
It was an early battle in the war named after a small church in the area. It was a Union victory. -
Capture of New Orleans
Union troops officially take possession of New Orleans, completing the occupation that had begun four days earlier. The capture of this vital southern city was a huge blow to the Confederacy. -
Battle of Memphis
The naval battle of Memphis in June 1862 took place as thousands of residents watched nine Union vessels defeat eight Confederate ships. The Federals occupied the city for the rest of the war. -
Battle of Malvern Hill
It was the final battle of the Seven Days Battles during the American Civil War, taking place on a 130 foot elevation of land known as Malvern Hill, near the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia and just one mile from the James River. -
Battle of Perryville
The Union victory at Perryville helped ensure that Kentucky would remain in Northern hands throughout the rest of the war. -
Second Battle of Bull Run/Second Battle of Manassas
Despite heavy Confederate casualties, the Battle of Second Bull Run was a decisive victory for the rebels, as Lee had managed a strategic offensive against an enemy force twice the size of his own. -
Battle of Antietam
It was the bloodiest day of the war with about 23,100 casualties. The Union won the battle. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
It was a battle with many Union casualties, the largest river crossing of the war, and it also acted as a boost for the Confederate hopes of victory. -
Battle of Arkansas Post
Union General John McClernand and Admiral David Porter capture Arkansas Post, a Confederate stronghold on the Arkansas River. The victory secured central Arkansas for the Union and lifted Northern morale just three weeks after the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
It was a huge victory for the Confederacy and General Robert E. Lee during the Civil War, though it is also famous for being the battle in which Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was mortally wounded. -
Siege of Vicksburg
It was an important Union victory. With the capture of Vicksburg and subsequent capture of Port Harbor five days later, the Union finally controlled the entirety of the Mississippi River. -
Siege of Port Hudson
The siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, was the final engagement in the Union campaign to recapture the Mississippi River in the American Civil War. The capture of Port Hudson in Louisiana gave Union forces control of the Mississippi River. -
Battle of Brandy Station
This was the largest predominantly cavalry engagement of the American Civil War, as well as the largest ever to take place on American soil. -
Battle of Gettysburg
This battle was the bloodiest battle of the war. The Union's eventual victory in the Battle of Gettysburg would give the North a major morale boost and stopped the Confederates from coming into the North again. -
First Battle of Fort Wagner
While the Battle of Fort Wagner was a Confederate victory, this battle showed the fierce determinations of African Americans in the Union army with the brave assault led by the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. -
Second Battle of Fort Wagner
Union Army troops commanded by Brig. Gen. Quincy Gillmore launched an unsuccessful assault on the Confederate fortress of Fort Wagner, which protected Morris Island, south of Charleston Harbor. The battle came one week after the First Battle of Fort Wagner. -
Battle of Chickamauga
The Confederate army secured a decisive victory at Chickamauga but lost 20 percent of its force in battle. At the end of a summer that had seen the disastrous Confederate loss at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the triumph of the Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga was a well-timed turn around for the Confederates. -
Gettysburg Address
A famous speech given by Abraham Lincoln to commemorate a new national cemetery at Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The Gettysburg Address's significance is that it sought to give meaning to the sacrifice of soldiers who died during the war. -
Battle of the Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness ended inconclusively, though the Union Army suffered more than 17,500 casualties over the two days of fighting, some 7,000 more than the toll suffered by the Confederates. -
Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse
The inconclusive Battle of Spotsylvania Court House was the second major engagement in Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign, a major Union offensive to chase down Robert E. Lee, destroy his forces, and defeat the Confederacy. -
Battle of Resaca
The battle formed part of the Atlanta Campaign during the American Civil War, when a Union force under William Tecumseh Sherman engaged the Confederate Army of Tennessee led by Joseph E. Johnston. Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston's troops were able to slow, but not halt, the progress of Union general William T. Sherman's forces into Georgia. -
Battle of New Market
Fought in Virginia, a makeshift Confederate army of 4,100 men defeated the larger Army of the Shenandoah under Major General Franz Sigel, delaying the capture of Staunton by several weeks. -
Battle of Cold Harbor
It was a disastrous defeat for the Union Army during the American Civil War that caused some 18,000 casualties. Continuing his relentless drive toward the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered a frontal infantry assault on General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate troops. -
Battle of Atlanta
An engagement that was part of the Union's summer Atlanta Campaign. Union Major Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and James B. McPherson successfully defended against a Confederate offensive. -
Battle of the Crater
At the Battle of the Crater, the Union's attempt to break the Confederate lines at Petersburg, Virginia, by blowing up a tunnel that had been dug under the Rebel trenches fails. -
Battle of Mobile Bay
The fall of Mobile Bay was a major blow to the Confederacy, and the victory was the first in a series of Yankee successes that helped secure the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln later that year. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
A movement of the Union army troops of General William Tecumseh Sherman from Atlanta, Georgia, to the Georgia seacoast, with the object of destroying Confederate supplies. It hurt morale, for civilians had believed the Confederacy could protect the home front. Sherman had terrorized the countryside; his men had destroyed all sources of food and forage and had left behind a hungry and demoralized people. -
Battle of Nashville
The Union victory at Nashville shattered Hood's Army of Tennessee and effectively ended the war in Tennessee. Following Nashville, the fall of the Southern Confederacy was now only a matter of time. -
Siege of Fort Fisher
Despite the bombardment, the Confederate position was still a strong one, and the outnumbered defenders managed to inflict 1,000 casualties on the attackers (184 dead, 749 wounded and 22 missing) before finally being forced to surrender. The loss of Fort Fisher shut Willington as a blockading port. It helped Sherman in his march through the Carolinas, and Grant in front of Richmond. Lee’s last source of overseas supplies was shut. -
Thirteenth Amendment Passed
The thirteenth amendment was passed which abolished slavery in America. -
Battle of Waynesboro
Final destruction of Confederate Early’s army of the Shenandoah by a force led by George Custer. -
Battle of Averasborough
The first real fighting during General Sherman’s march through the heart of the Confederacy (American Civil War). Sherman had marched from Atlanta to the coast at Savannah, and north through South Carolina without facing any significant opposition, but in North Carolina the Confederacy managed to scrape together an army that could at least threaten Sherman. -
Battle of Bentonville
Confederate attempt to defeat one wing of Sherman’s army before the other wing could come to its assistance. The attempt failed, and two days later Union reinforcements forced a Confederate retreat. -
Battle of Five Forks
Robert E. Lee knew that if the Union Army could take Five Forks, they would be able to reach the South Side Railroad and the Richmond and Danville Railroad, cutting the major supply routes to and retreat routes from Petersburg and Richmond, cut the wagon roads to the west and circle around Hatcher's Run and attack the Confederate right flank. -
Confederate Capital Captured
Capture of Richmond, the Confederate capitol, and Petersburg, long besieged. Lincoln visits Petersburg then moves on to Richmond. -
Battle of Sailor's Creek
The Union army overwhelmed the defending Confederates, capturing 7,700 men and depriving Lee of roughly one-fourth of his army. It was the last major engagement between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee and the Army of the Potomac, under the overall direction of General Ulysses S. Grant. -
Battle of Appomattox Station
The last battle of the civil war where the Confederate army would have to surrender after wards to end the war. -
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
Trapped by the Federals near Appomattox Court House, Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union general Ulysses S. Grant. -
The Liberator
The last issue of the abolitionist magazine The Liberator is published in Boston. -
Fisk University established
Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 declared all persons born in the United States to be citizens, "without distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude." -
Memphis riots of 1866
A series of violent events that occurred from May 1 to 3, 1866 in Memphis, Tennessee. The racial violence was ignited by political and social racism following the American Civil War. -
Tennessee Readmitted into the Union
In 1866, Tennessee becomes the first Confederate state readmitted to the union -
Grant gets rank of General of the Army
The U.S. Congress passes legislation authorizing the rank of General of the Army, which is equivalent to the modern-day "5-star general". Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to have this rank. -
National Union Convention
The convention was called in Philadelphia before of the midyear elections of 1866 in an attempt to encourage political support for US President Andrew Johnson, who was under attack by both moderate and Radical Republicans. Johnson's friends tried to rally support for his lenient pro-South Reconstruction policies. Some hoped to create a new political party, but that goal was not realized. -
Official End of the War
On August 20, 1866, there was a proclamation issued announcing the end of the American Civil War: -
Andrew Johnson's speaking tour
President Andrew Johnson goes on his Swing Around the Circle speaking tour to gain support for his Reconstructionist policies and Democratic Party candidates in the upcoming elections. -
Presidential election of 1866
The 1866 United States elections occurred in the middle of National Union/Democratic President Andrew Johnson's term, during the Third Party System and Reconstruction. Johnson had become president on April 15, 1865, upon the death of his predecessor, Abraham Lincoln. House of Representatives elections: Despite President Andrew Johnson's Swing Around the Circle tour, the Republican Party wins in a landslide. -
Reconstruction acts
Congress passes a series of Reconstruction acts and the period of Radical Reconstruction begins. -
The opening of Clarke School for the Deaf
Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts opens its doors for the first time, becoming the first school for the deaf in the United States to teach deaf children how to communicate with others using the "oral method". -
The longest suspension bridge in the world opens
The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky, becoming the longest suspension bridge in the world. -
African American Voting
African-American men are granted the right to vote in the District of Columbia. -
Nebraska becomes a state
Nebraska is admitted as the 37th U.S. state -
The Tenure of Office Act
The Tenure of Office Act was a United States federal law in force from 1867 to 1887 that was intended to restrict the power of the president to remove certain office-holders without the approval of the Senate. The law was enacted on March 2, 1867, over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. -
Congress looks to impeach Johnson
The House of Representatives voted 126–47, with 17 members not voting, in favor of a resolution to impeach the president for high crimes and misdemeanors, marking the first time that a president of the United States had been impeached. On May 16, the Senate did not convict Johnson on one of the articles, with the 35–19 vote in favor of conviction falling one vote short of the necessary two-thirds majority. -
Davis Released from Jail
Davis spent two years as a military prisoner at Fort Monroe near Norfolk. Davis was moved to spacious quarters in the officers’ hall and was allowed visitors and exercise. He was transferred to civilian custody on May 13, 1867, and then released on $100,000 bail. -
Alaska is Purchased
Alaska is purchased for $7.2 million from Alexander II of Russia, about 2 cent per acre, by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward. The news media call this "Seward's Folly." -
Medicine Lodge Treaty
Near Medicine Lodge Creek, Kansas, a landmark treaty is signed by southern Great Plains Indian leaders. The treaty requires Native American Plains tribes to relocate to a reservation in western Oklahoma.