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Republican Party is formed
The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is officially formed. It then begins to compete with its main historic rival, the Democratic Party. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act passed
The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. -
Abraham Lincoln elected president
Abraham Lincoln becomes the United States' 16th president over a deeply divided Democratic Party. He becomes the first Republican ever to win the presidency. -
South Carolina votes to secede from the United States
The S.C. General Assembly called for a Convention to consider secession. Delegates were elected and voted unanimously, 169-0, declaring secession from the United States. -
Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter
This was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina. This lead to the surrender of the United States Army, that ultimately started the American Civil War. -
Lincoln suspends habeas corpus
Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia to give the military authorities the necessary power to silence dissenters and rebels. With his permission, commanders could arrest and detain any individual who were deemed threatening to military operations. -
Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy
A decision was made to name the City of Richmond, Virginia as the new Capital of the Confederacy. The Confederate capital was moved to Richmond in recognition of Virginia's strategic importance. -
First Battle of Bull Run is fought
The First Battle of Bull Run was the first major battle of the American Civil War. The battle was fought in Prince William County, Virginia, and was won by the Confederates. -
Jefferson Davis elected president of the Confederacy
Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederate States of America, and is elected to serve for a six-year term. -
The Merrimac and the Monitor fight of the Virginia coast
Was history's first naval battle between ironclad warships during the American Civil War. This was part of a Confederate effort in order to break the Union blockade of Southern ports, including Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, allowed Union troops to penetrate the Confederate interior. The carnage was unprecedented, with the human toll being one of the greatest of any war on the American continent up to that date. -
Robert E. Lee is named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
The confederate forces were renamed the Army of Northern Virginia, after Robert E. Lee takes command in a battle to defend the city of Richmond from Union forces. -
Battle of Antietam
Confederate and Union troops in the Civil War battle near Maryland's Antietam Creek in the most bloodiest single day in American military history. The Battle of Antietam marked the culmination of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the Northern states. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
This was one of the early battles of the civil war and stands as one of the greatest Confederate victories. Led by General Robert E. Lee, the Army of Northern Virginia routed the Union forces Major General, Ambrose Burnside. -
Emancipation Proclamation is announced
President Abraham Lincoln issues a Emancipation Proclamation, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared that everyone held as a slave in rebellious states are now to be set free. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was one of the major battles of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. -
Battle of Gettysburg
This was the turning point in the Civil War, costing the Union 23,000 killed, wounded, or missing in action. The Confederates suffered 25,000 casualties, later leading to the surrender of General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. -
Confederates surrender at Vicksburg
The Confederacy is torn in two when General John C. Pemberton surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Vicksburg, Mississippi. -
New York City draft riots
The New York City draft riots were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of working-class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War. -
Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address
President Abraham Lincoln delivers a short speech at the end of the ceremonies dedicated to the battlefield cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The speech is later on known as the Gettysburg Address. -
Atlanta is captured
Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman lays siege to Atlanta, Georgia, a critical Confederate hub, shelling civilians and cutting off supply lines. The Confederates eventually end up retreating. -
Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election
President Abraham Lincoln of the National Union Party easily defeats Democratic George B. McClellan, by a wide margin of 212–21 in the electoral college. He is then re-elected to become president once more. -
Sherman begins his March to the Sea
Union General William T. Sherman begins his expedition across Georgia by torching the industrial section of Atlanta and pulling away from his supply lines. -
Congress passes the 13th Amendment
The 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States permanently. The 13th amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, passed through both the Senate and the House. -
Freedman’s Bureau is created
Congress passed an act in order to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans. -
Lincoln gives his second inaugural address
During President Lincolns second inaugural address, he spoke of mutual forgiveness of both the North and South, asserting that the true mettle of a nation lies in its capacity for charity. He presided over the nation's most terrible crisis. -
Richmond falls to the Union Army
Confederate lines near Petersburg broke after a nine month seige. The retreat of the army ended up leaving the Confederate capital of Richmond defenseless. -
Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox
In the Appomattox Court House, Virginia, Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 Confederate troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, officially ending the American Civil War. -
President Lincoln assassinated
President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated at Ford´s Theatre in Washington D.C by John Wilkes Booth -
John Wilkes Booth is killed
John Wilkes Booth is killed when Union soldiers track him down to a Virginia farm 12 days after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.