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Florida seceded from the Union to protect the foundation of its wealth and power—slavery. In doing so, it helped propel the United States into four long years of civil war. -
he 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 -
Abraham Lincoln elected president and Hannibal Hamlin vice president with only 39% of the vote in a four man race. -
The Crittenden Compromise was an unsuccessful attempt to permanently entrench slavery in the United States Constitution, making any attempt by future congresses to abolish slavery unlawfully. -
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal union. The election of Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860 sparked calls for secession from the slave-holding South. -
On January 9, 1861, Mississippi declared independence from the United States. Members of the state's secession convention thought it was their responsibility to explain why. Members claimed, "Our attitude is deeply associated with the institution of slavery—the biggest material interest of the globe." -
Alabama's Secession Convention adopts an Ordinance of Secession, calling the state "Sovereign and Independent." Alabama becomes the fourth state to secede from the Union, with a vote of 61-39. -
On January 19, 1861, Georgia became the sixth state to secede. On February 8, 1861, it was one of the original seven states to form the Confederate States of America. Georgia's argument for seceding from the Union is one of the longest. -
On January 26, 1861, the U.S. state of Louisiana declared its independence from the United States. It then declared its allegiance to the Confederate States of America. Louisiana was the sixth slave state to declare secession from the United States and join the Confederacy of States. -
Texas becomes the seventh state to separate from the Union on February 1, 1861, when a state convention votes 166 to 8 in favor of the move. Over the concerns of their governor, Sam Houston, Texans chose to leave the Union. -
Seven southern states had seceded by February 1861. Representatives from South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana gathered in Montgomery, Alabama on February 4, 1861, to organize the Confederate States of America, with representatives from Texas arriving later. -
The southern states that seceded created a government at Montgomery, Alabama and the Confederate States of America are formed. -
February 18 On February 9, 1861, Jefferson Davis, who was chosen president of the Provisional Government of the Confederacy as a compromise. -
Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Harbor. Less than 34 hours later, Union forces surrendered. Traditionally, this event has been used to mark the beginning of the Civil War. -
President Abraham Lincoln declares a public insurgency and dispatches 75,000 militia to quell the uprising. In the weeks that follow, four more southern states withdraw from the Union as a result of this call for volunteers. On May 3, Lincoln will issue a new call for 43,000+ volunteers to serve for three years, increasing the strength of the Regular Army. -
The Battle of Big Bethel was one of the American Civil War's first ground confrontations. In June 10, 1861, it occurred on the Virginia Peninsula, near Newport News. -
The Battle of First Manassas, also known as the First Battle of Bull Run, was the American Civil War's first significant battle. On July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, about 30 miles west-southwest of Washington, D.C., the fight was fought. -
The Union Army, led by Banks, defeats Confederate forces led by General Richard Taylor in their attempt to push them out of Louisiana. Unfortunately, the campaign's outcome was less than ideal, as it came to a close in the first week of May with Confederates still controlling the majority of the state. -
The Battle of Ball's Bluff took place in Virginia. Colonel Edward D. Baker, a friend of President Abraham Lincoln and a senator from Oregon, led men across the Potomac River only to be forced back to the river's edge, where he was slain. The ensuing Union retreat devolved into a rout, with many soldiers drowning while attempting to recross the Potomac River's cold waters. -
Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America on November 6, 1861, rather than the United States of America. He was elected to a six-year term after running unopposed. Davis had been acting as the interim president for about a year. -
The loss of this southern fort on the Tennessee River opened the door to Union control of the river. -
Battle of Roanoke Island, North Carolina. A Confederate defeat, the battle resulted in Union occupation of eastern North Carolina and control of Pamlico Sound, to be used as Northern base for further operations against the southern coast. -
The action was part of the Confederacy's endeavor to break the Union blockade, which had cut off foreign trade to Virginia's principal cities and significant industrial hubs, Norfolk and Richmond. -
The first major battle in Tennessee. Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, a veteran of the Texas War of Independence and the War with Mexico considered to be one of the finest officers the South has, is killed on the first day of fighting. The Union victory further secures the career of Union General Ulysses S. Grant. -
The Homestead Act accelerated the settlement of the western territory by granting adult heads of families 160 acres of surveyed public land for a minimal filing fee and five years of continuous residence on that land. -
Although it had been referred to as the "Army of Northern Virginia" by various people, including Confederate president Jefferson Davis on occasion, Robert E. Lee referred to it as the "Army of Northern Virginia" in Special Orders No. 22, dated June 1, 1862, when he assumed command in place of the wounded Joseph E. Lee. -
First proposed when Morrill was serving in the House of Representatives, the Morrill Land Grant College Act of 1862 set aside federal lands to create colleges to “benefit the agricultural and mechanical arts.” The president signed the bill into law on July 2, 1862. -
The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Dakota Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, the United States-Dakota War of 1862, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of eastern Dakota also known as the Santee Sioux. -
Despite severe Confederate casualties (9,000), the Battle of Second Bull Run (also known as Second Manassas in the South) was a decisive success for the rebels, as Lee orchestrated a strategic offensive against an enemy force twice the size of his own (Pope and McClellan's). -
The Battle of Antietam was a Union victory. The Union lost approximately 12,400 men to the Confederate's 10,700, but the Union had driven the Confederates from the field and ended the Confederate invasion. The battle was Ohioan George McClellan's greatest success during the American Civil War. -
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
General Lee's greatest victory is marred by the mortal wounding of "Stonewall" Jackson, who dies on May 10. Soon after, Lee asks Jefferson Davis for permission to invade the North and take the war out of Virginia. -
Brandy Station, Virginia, was the site of the Battle of Brandy Station. Union cavalry soldiers cross the Rapidan River on their way to assault General J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, only to discover that Lee's men are heading west toward the Shenandoah Valley. It is the Civil War's largest cavalry battle and the start of the Gettysburg Campaign. -
Political rivalries between Tidewater, the Piedmont, Northern Virginia, and whichever many other regions you want to name have a long history in Virginia. Due to these disagreements, a formal split occurred in 1863, resulting in the formation of a new state, West Virginia. -
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. -
The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.” The Vicksburg Campaign began in 1862 and ended with the Confederate surrender on July 4, 1863. -
The New York Draft Riots happened in July 1863, when working-class New Yorkers were outraged by a new federal draft legislation during the Civil War, resulting in five days of some of the most bloody and destructive rioting in American history. -
Second Assault on Battery Wagner, South Carolina. Leading the Union infantry charge is the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry commanded by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw who is killed and buried with the dead of his regiment. -
In a murderous daylight raid, Confederate and Missouri guerillas under William Clarke Quantrill storm into Lawrence and destroy most of the town. Approximately 150 men and boys are murdered by Quantrill's men. -
Chattanooga, Tennessee, is occupied by Union forces under General William Rosecrans whose Army of the Cumberland will soon invade northern Georgia. -
In October 1863, the attack on the USS New Ironsides was one of the first successful torpedo boat confrontations in history. The newly built semi-submersible CSS David was used by Confederate forces in Charleston, South Carolina to connect a spar torpedo to the hull of the USS New Ironsides. Despite the fact that the attack was a rebel victory, the Union ship was spared major damage. -
Lee's Army of Northern Virginia marches into northern Virginia in an attempt to flank the Army of the Potomac, led by General Meade, in a feint against Washington. Lee outmaneuvers Meade, but he is unable to force him to battle or catch him in the open. The campaign is named after an engagement on October 14 in Bristoe Station, Virginia. -
South of the Rapidan River, east of Orange Court House, Meade's Army of the Potomac marches against Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Lee reacts by erecting a defensive line along the banks of Mine Run Creek. Meade withdraws north of the Rapidan and retires into winter quarters after testing the defenses for several days. -
Lincoln's blueprint for Reconstruction included the Ten-Percent Plan,which specified that a southern state could be readmitted into the Union once 10 percent of its voters (from the voter rolls for the election of 1860) swore an oath of allegiance to the Union. -
After weeks of digging, 109 Union officers made their escape from the notorious Libby Prison, the largest and most sensational escape of the war. Though 48 of the escapees were later captured and two drowned, 59 were able to make their way into Union lines. -
Outside of Charleston, South Carolina, the CSS H.L. Hunley, a seven-man submersible boat, assaulted the USS Houstonic. The Housatonic split apart and sank after being hit by the submarine's torpedo, killing all but five of her crew members. Similarly, the Hunley vanished and was never seen or heard from again until 1995, when it was recovered in the same area where it sank following the attack. -
Camp Sumter Prison Camp opens in Georgia. Andersonville Prison Camp, as it is commonly known, will become known for its overcrowding and high death rate among its inmates. -
Universally referred to as Andersonville Prison Camp, it will become notorious for overcrowded conditions and a high death rate among its inmates. -
Grant's appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army. President Abraham Lincoln signs a brief document on March 10, 1864, upgrading Major General Ulysses S. Grant to the rank of lieutenant general of the United States Army and tasked the future president with leading all Union troops against the Confederate Army. -
On April 8, 1864, in Louisiana, the Battle of Mansfield, also known as the Battle of Sabine Crossroads, took place as part of the Red River Campaign of the American Civil War, when Union forces attempted to take the Louisiana state capital, Shreveport. -
The Union Army, led by Banks, defeats Confederate forces led by General Richard Taylor in their attempt to push them out of Louisiana. Unfortunately, the campaign's outcome was less than ideal, as it came to a close in the first week of May with Confederates still controlling the majority of the state. -
The Fight of Spotsylvania Court House, also known as the Battle of Spotsylvania, was the second major battle of the American Civil War's 1864 Overland Campaign, led by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. -
After withdrawing from the lines at Cold Harbor, the Army of the Potomac crossed the James River and attacked the outer defenses of Petersburg, the key junction for numerous southern railroads, with forces from the Army of the James. Grant recognizes that only a siege can systematically confine the city and cut off Confederate supply to Richmond after four days of brutal attacks. -
Led by the Radical Republicans in the House and Senate, Congress passed the Wade-Davis bill on July 2, 1864—co-sponsored by Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio and Representative Henry Davis of Maryland—to provide for the admission to the representation of rebel states upon meeting certain conditions. -
Union defeat of Nathan Bedford Forrest secured the supply lines to Sherman's armies operating against Atlanta, Georgia. -
- General John Bell Hood replaces General Joseph Johnston as commander of the Army of Tennessee. This change in command signals a new Confederate strategy to thwart Sherman's campaign, though the end result will be disastrous for the southern cause.
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A surprise Confederate counterattack briefly stopped Union destruction of the Weldon Railroad near Ream's Station, though failed to release the Union grip on this important supply line into Petersburg. -
The final southern counterattack against Union troops outside the city of Atlanta fails. -
After most of Tennessee had been retaken, Lincoln appointed him as Military Governor of Tennessee in 1862. Johnson was an obvious option as Lincoln's running mate in 1864, when the president wanted to project a message of national unity during his re-election campaign; and he became vice president after winning the election. -
Sherman's March toward the Sea was a Civil War military expedition led by William Tecumseh Sherman, a Union Army major general, that took place in Georgia from November 15 to December 21, 1864. -
On November 29, 1864, at daybreak, roughly 675 United States volunteer soldiers under the direction of Colonel John M. Chivington attacked a town of about 750 Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians along Sand Creek in southwestern Colorado Territory. The military pushed the villagers out of their camp with small weapons and artillery fire. -
Sherman's Army of Georgia arrives in Savannah, Georgia, accompanied only by scattered Georgia militia, concluding the famed "March to the Sea." His men will seize Fort McAllister in Savannah and compel Confederate defenders to flee the city. -
Sherman's army is stalled in its drive northward from Fayetteville but succeeds in passing around the Confederate forces toward its object of Raleigh. -
The "An Act to Establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees" was approved by Congress on March 3, 1865, to offer food, shelter, clothes, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including recently liberated African Americans. -
On April 3rd, 1865, the Rebel capital of Richmond, Virginia, falls to the Union Army after 10 months of attempted attacks by General Ulysses S. Grant. -
A portion of Lee's Army- almost one-third of it- is cornered along the banks of Sailor's (or "Saylor's") Creek and annihilated. -
Confederate leader Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant outside Appomattox Court House, sparking the surrendering of other Confederate forces and bringing the deadliest conflict in American history to a close. -
President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth; Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes the 17th President. Lincoln was murdered in a local theatre he was told NOT to go to. -
General Joseph Johnston signs the surrender document for the Confederate Army of the Tennessee and miscellaneous southern troops attached to his command at Bennett's Place near Durham, North Carolina. -
Davis was arrested at Irwinville, Georgia, around dawn on May 10, 1865. He kept in a damp casemate at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Davis remained a prisoner under surveillance for two more years, despite angry Northern public opinion forcing his move to safer lodgings. -
General Simon Bolivar Buckner enters into terms for the surrender of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi, which are agreed to on June 2, 1865. The Civil War officially ends. -
Slavery was abolished as an institution in all U.S. states and territories by the 13th Amendment. In addition to abolishing slavery, the amendment made involuntary slavery illegal. -
"Without distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude," the Civil Rights Act of 1866 declared all people born in the United States to be citizens. -
Tennessee became the first Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union on this day in 1866. The Volunteer State was also the last to leave the Union, following a statewide referendum. -
African-American men are granted the right to vote in the District of Columbia. -
Nebraska, which joined the union as the 37th state on March 1, 1867, two years after the American Civil War ended, has some of the best ranchland and cropland in the country. -
The Tenure of Office Act was a federal statute in the United States that was in effect from 1867 to 1887 and was meant to limit the president's ability to dismiss certain officeholders without Senate consent. The measure was passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto on March 2, 1867. -
The 1867 Reconstruction Acts ushered in a period known as Radical Reconstruction. The following laws were enacted as a result of these legislation: Until Congress could write and approve suitable state constitutions, the South was divided into five military districts and controlled by military governors. -
On March 30, 1867, the United States reached an agreement to purchase Alaska from Russia for a price of $7.2 million. The Treaty with Russia was negotiated and signed by Secretary of State William Seward and Russian Minister to the United States Edouard de Stoeckl. -
The United States took formal possession of Midway Atoll in August of 1867 by Captain William Reynolds of the USS Lackawanna.