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Period: to
Civil War Timespan
Events that led to the Civil War -
Pony Express
The Pony Express began -
Lincoln elected
Lincoln gets elected for president -
Crittenden Compromise
The Crittenden Compromise was an unsuccessful proposal to permanently enshrine slavery in the United States Constitution, and thereby make it unconstitutional for future congresses to end slavery -
South Carolina Secedes from the Union
In 1860, South Carolina officially breaks away from the United States -
More seceding
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana secede -
Kansas
Kansas admitted to the Union as a free state -
Confederate States of America
(the Confederacy) established under President Jefferson Davis -
Morrill tariff
The Morrill Tariff was an increased import tariff in the United States -
Lincoln wins the election
Lincoln serves as the 16th president of the U.S. -
Civil War Begins
American Civil War begins at Fort Sumter by the Confederates -
Even more suceeding
Lincoln calls for troops; Virginia secedes -
Habeas Corpus
Ex Parte Merryman, federal court case which objected to Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus -
Arkansas
Arkansas secedes -
North Carolina
Richmond becomes C.S.A. capital; North Carolina secedes -
Tennessee
Tennessee secedes -
Sanitary
U.S. Sanitary Commission created to provide care for wounded soldiers and their families -
Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run and results in Confederate victory -
Stonewall Jackson
Confederates rout Union troops at the first Battle of Manassas/Bull Run; Thomas Jackson earns the nickname "Stonewall" -
McClellan
Major General George B. McClellan takes command of the Army of the Potomac -
McClellan Removal
Convinced that McClellan could never defeat Lee, Lincoln notified the general on November 5 of his removal. A few days later, Lincoln named General Ambrose Burnside to be the commander of the Army of the Potomac -
Ulysses S. Grant
Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant victorious at Fort Donelson, Tennessee -
Battle of Shiloh
The battle is named after a small church in the vicinity named Shiloh which ironically translates to "place of peace" or "heavenly peace". The Union won. -
David Farragut
U.S. Navy Captain David Farragut captures New Orleans -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead -
Pacific Railroad Acts
The Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 were a series of acts of Congress that promoted the construction of a "transcontinental railroad" in the United States through authorizing the issuance of government bonds and the grants of land to railroad companies. In 1853, the War Department under then Secretary of War Jefferson Davis was authorized by the Congress to conduct surveys of five different potential transcontinental routes from the Mississippi ranging from north to south -
Second Battle of Bull Run
Confederate victory again -
Battle of Antietam
The first field army–level engagement in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. It remains the bloodiest day in American history. Resulted in a Union victory -
Fredricksburg
The Union suffers one of its worst defeats at the Battle of Fredericksburg -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Proclamation changed the legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the secessionist Confederate states from enslaved to free. As soon as a slave escaped the control of his or her owner, either by running away across Union lines or through the advance of federal troops, the person was permanently free -
National Bank Act
Two United States federal banking acts that established a system of national banks, and created the United States National Banking System. They encouraged development of a national currency backed by bank holdings of U.S. Treasury securities and established the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as part of the United States Department of the Treasury and a system of nationally chartered banks. The Act shaped today's national banking system and its support of a uniform U.S. banking policy -
Cherokee Support
Cherokee Nation abolishes slavery; declares support for the Union -
Chancellorsville
Confederates win a stunning victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville; Stonewall Jackson is fatally wounded -
West Virginia
Pro-Union counties become sovereign state of West Virginia -
Battle of Gettysburg
Considered to be the biggest turning point for the Union. The Confederacy planned a sneak attack on Union soil and lost. -
Surrendering
Vicksburg surrenders to Grant's army -
Gettysburg Address
Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address. This was used 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 -
Andersonville
War's most notorious prison camp opens near Andersonville, Georgia -
Atlanta March
Grant launches Overland Campaign; U.S. General William T. Sherman marches toward Atlanta -
Wade–Davis Bill
Was a bill "to guarantee to certain States whose governments have been usurped or overthrown a republican form of government," proposed for the Reconstruction of the South. In opposition to President Abraham Lincoln's more lenient ten percent plan, the bill made re-admittance to the Union for former Confederate states contingent on a majority in each ex-Confederate state to take the Ironclad Oath to the effect they had never in the past supported the Confederacy -
Sherman Victory
Sherman captures Atlanta, Georgia -
Presidential Election
Lincoln defeats McClellan in the 1864 presidential election -
Abolition
Davis appoints Lee general-in-chief; U.S. House passes the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery -
Law
Davis signs a "Negro Soldier Law," authorizing the enlistment of slaves -
End of the Civil War
Robert E. Lee surrendered the last major Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse -
Assassination
John Wilkes Booth assassinates Lincoln; Andrew Johnson becomes president -
Fourteenth Amendment
U.S. Congress passes Fourteenth Amendment, affirming citizenship for African Americans -
Tennessee
Tennessee readmitted to the Union -
Post Civil War
The Ku Klux Klan reorganizes into a paramilitary organization led by a former Confederate General, Nathan Bedford Forrest -
Reconstruction Acts
Legislation enacted that outlined the conditions under which the Southern states would be readmitted to the Union following the American Civil War. The bills were largely written by the Radical Republicans in the U.S. Congress -
Andrew Johnston
African American men granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C. despite President Andrew Johnson's veto -
Voting Rights
African-American men are granted the right to vote in the District of Columbia. -
Alaska
The United States purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. Secretary State William Seward who negotiated the purchase was widely mocked for the arrangement and the new territory was quickly dubbed “Seward’s Folly,” “Seward’s Ice-box,” and other unflattering names