-
In 1860 Buchanan fired the majority of his cabinet members. He did this just before the upcoming election. -
This committee was put together to investigate possible wrongdoings in the U.S. government. They looked into possible corruptions made by President James Buchanan. -
The Covode Committee was sent to investigate a possible impeachment of President Buchanan. He would be tried for bribery and extortion of representatives, however he was not found guilty nor was he impeached. -
This rifle was designed by Benjamin Tyler Henry in 1860. It was originally a sixteen-shot .44 caliber rim fire breech-loading lever-action rifle. It was used through the Civil War. -
-
The Pony Express was a horseback mail delivery service. It worked through a relay in St. Joseph, Sacramento, and from Sacramento to San Francisco. It was a 2,000 mile route that delivered mail and news in about 10 days. -
The first Secession Convention is held in Columbia, South Carolina. -
On November 6, 1860 Abraham Lincoln is elected to be the 16th president of the United States. This election lead to the first state of the Confederacy to seceed. -
The first flag of independence is raised by the south. The citizens of Savannah, Georgia raised this flag in representation of their separation from the Union. -
The Crittenden Compromise was 6 articles written by 74 year old slaveholder John J. Crittenden. These articles which he submitted to congress said that slavery could not be abolished, but it also instated a balance of power between south and north. -
Following the election of Abraham Lincoln South Carolina withdrew themselves from the United States. They were the first southern state to succeed. -
This was a military plan consisting of 3 major points. First they would create a naval blockade through southern ports, take control of the Mississippi, and then ambush and surround the Confederates. -
Mississippi becomes the second slave state to succeed from the Union and join the confederacy. Mississippi is followed by Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas, all within the month of January -
After replacing their old Senator Sam Houston who would not allow them to pledge allegiance to the confederacy, Texas was able to finally succeed. They became the seventh state to succeed. -
The Confederate States of America were separated from the Union and formed their own Confederacy. The CSA was made up out of 7 slave states including: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. -
Shortly after the CSA is formed, they put together their army. The Provisional Confederate Congress established a provisional volunteer army for confederate citizens. -
This was the first encounter of the Civil War. The Confederates attacked the Union at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. -
Virginia was 8th state to succeed and join the confederacy. Virginia was the first of the states to succeed from the union after the start of the Civil War. -
These three were the final three states to succeed from the Union. These three complete the Confederate States of America. They succeeded between the dates of May 6th and June 8th of 1861. -
This battle was the first major land battle of the Civil War. It took place in Mananas, Virginia. The Union took this battle on an offensive front attacking from Washington D.C. -
Mclellan who was named General in Chief of the Union army was visited late at night by Lincoln where they had a serious discussion about the plans for the war in the future. This is where he first he first began to disregard Lincoln. -
This battle was a naval encounter and took place on the James River. It is recognized as the first fight between ironclad warships in history. Monitor was the Union ship which ultimately defeated the Merrimack which was the confederate ship. -
This battle left the Union victorious as they were able to infiltrate the confederates interior. This crushed Confederate hopes of keeping the Union from taking over the Mississippi. -
This was an attempt by the Union to capture the city of New Orleans through a naval attack. The union ended up gaining control resulting in a detrimental loss for the Confederacy. -
This was a series of battles going back and forth between Lee and McClellan, all working towards the capture of Richmond, VA by the Union. After McClellan withdrew his army, the battle was eventually won by the Confederates. -
This was the second time both forces met at Bull Run. Because McClellan was so slow, Lee was given the opportunity to strike first. This was a battle between Pope and Lee but in the end the south prevailed. -
The Battle of Richmond was entirely a Confederate victory. This battle took place in Kentucky between General Patrick Cleburne and Maj. Gen. William Nelson. -
This battle was a plan set in place by General Robert E. Lee. He wanted to attack and capture the Union garrison. He split his men up and put some under Stonewall Jackson and marched the rest to Maryland. Stonewall's men attacked in a way that proved beneficial for them as this terrain was nearly impossible to defend. The result was a confederate victory. -
Antietam was the bloodiest single day battle of the Civil War. This battle showed that the Union stood a chance against the confederacy, but they also showed their weakness with McClellan's subpar approach. -
After many disregarded opportunities and casualties costed by George McClellan Abraham Lincoln was done. He and McClellan had weeks of aggravated conversations back and forth before he finally decided McClellan was no longer fit to be general when he didn't march on Lee. -
This was the biggest battle of the civil war consisting of over 200,000 soldiers. This battle was also the first battle of the Civil War to happen with opposed river crossing. It was also American soldiers first experience of Urban combat. In the end, the confederates won. -
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln in the midst of the Civil War stating that all slaves in the south would now be free people. -
The first conscription act was passed with the intent of drafting men ages 20 to 45 into the Civil War. One could pay $300 or find a replacement in order to not be drafted. This was the first time a draft happened in American history. Conscription was heavily opposed. -
The battle of Chancellorsville was a huge win for the confederacy. It was general Lee's most tactical success as he split his army in half to fight off two armies double there sizes. Ultimately this was also the battle that fatally wounded Stonewall Jackson. -
A week after his own men accidentally shot him during the battle of Chancellorsville, Stonewall contracted pneumonia and eventually died from it. -
This battle was decided to be a Union victory as they successfully split the Confederacy. For the Union securing this point completed step 2 of their Anaconda plan getting themselves control of the Mississippi. -
A lot of western parts of Virginia did not want to succeed with the rest of Virginia, so they separated themselves into a new state. West Virginia is admitted into the Union in June of 1863. -
The Battle of Gettysburg is known as the turning point of the war. This was when the power in the war shifted to the Union, and General Lee's invasion of the north was stopped. -
The Gettysburg Address was a speech given by Abraham Lincoln in wake of the Battle of Gettysburg. This speech urged the people of both the Union and the Confederacy to put aside their differences and come together to unite as a country once again. -
The Battles of Chattanooga were a series of battles that were won by the Union. The Union battled through Tennessee pushing the Confederates all the way back to Georgia. -
This Proclamation stated Lincoln's plans for reconstruction after the war would eventually end. It covered the rebuilding of not only property but also politics. -
Andersonville, established in 1864 was one of the worst war camp prisons of the Civil War. It was a Confederate camp and had some of the most unhealthy conditions as well as the highest death rates. -
in March of 1864 Ulysses S Grant was made Lieutenant General and was put in command of the entire US army. He planned to immobilize Lee's army at Richmond which he succeeded in doing. -
The battles of Atlanta was a campaign starting in early May of 1864 and lasting for a few months. This campaign included the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain which was a Confederate win but inevitably Atlanta was surrendered to the Union. -
The battles of Cold Harbor were two battles, the first one in North Virginia and the second at Bethesda Church. This was the last big win for Robert E. Lee in the Civil War. -
This was not the first campaign in this area, however this one was started by Grant when he sent Sheridan to battle for the land and keep the south from it's agricultural benefits. The result was a Confederate victory when Grant surrendered. -
President Lincoln is reelected for his second term in office. He ran against and beat former Union general George McClellan in this 1864 election. -
Former General George McClellan is nominated to run for President against Abraham Lincoln in the 1864 election. He ran with George Pendleton in the Democratic Party but lost. -
Sherman led troops of 60,000 Union men from Atlanta to Savannah. His goal here was to scare confederates into giving up on their confederate cause. -
David Farragut, the Union naval officer was promoted to be Vice Admiral in late 1864. -
The Battle of Nashville was fought over Confederate trenches and turned out to be a detrimental defeat for the Rebels. The Union led by General George Thomas, won and took control of this area. -
In January of 1865, congress passed the 13th amendment to abolish slavery in America. This amendment was later ratified in December of 1865. -
This was a 9 month long campaign lasting from June of 1864 to March of 1865. These battles exhibited use of trench warfare. Lee eventually retreated as Confederate supplies diminished. -
After the Confederate surrender at Petersburg, President Davis ordered his troops to evacuate Richmond, a retreat south via the Richmond and Danville railroad. -
Finally marking the end of the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse. -
President Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed in Ford Theater by an actor and confederate rebel named John Wilkes Booth. His assassination came only a few days after General Lee surrendered at Appomattox. -
After Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Andrew Johnson who was previously his Vice President, assumed the role of President. He became the 17th President of the U.S. -
Juneteenth was the day that 250,000 slaves in Texas were given their freedom by the US army. This day marks emancipation of of many slaves after the civil war. -
Stand Watie becomes the final Confederate general to surrender his command. He surrendered his unit of Confederate Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, and Osage Indians at Doaksville, near Fort Towson in Indian Territory -
Henry Wirz had the most famous trial for war crimes in the civil war. He was one of many confederate soldiers found guilty and publicly executed for their crimes. -
Passed by congress on January 31, the 13th Amendment was ratified on December 6th. The thirteenth amendment stated that slavery would be abolished in all of America. -
The Liberator was one of the biggest, most widely read anti-slavery Newspapers during and before the Civil War. It was published in Boston by William Lloyd Garrison, who was a white man but advocated against slavery. -
In 1866 the U.S. Government bought Ford's Theater, the location of Lincoln's assassination, and turned it into a three story office building, the third floor was an Army Medical Museum. -
Located in Nashville, Tennessee Fisk University was established just after the end of the Civil War. This was a primarily black University which was very rare at this point in time. -
Texas held a Constitutional Convention where it was decided that slavery would be abolished in their new Constitution. The law stated they would abolished involuntary servitude, except as a form of punishment for crimes. -
The Civil Rights Act which was passed in April of 1866 stated all people born in the United States were citizens, "without distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude." -
Starting off as the last state to leave the Union and join the confederacy at the start of the civil war, it became the first state to reenter the Union after the end of the war. -
After his many heroic acts in the war General Ulysses S. Grant was the first in U.S. history to become a 4-Star General. He was given the highest possible rank given in the US military. -
The National Union Convention was a meeting of thousands of people in support of Andrew Johnson. They wanted to create a political party that could back Johnson through the upcoming election. -
The Civil War was formally declared over when President Andrew Johnson signed a Proclamation of peace. This Proclamation stated there would be peace, Order, tranquility, and Civil authority in America from then on. -
This address was written by Andrew Johnson to explain the policy he wanted to put in place to aid the states through their post war Reconstruction era. -
The Midway Islands are a group of naval islands off the coast of Honolulu Hawaii. This name was given to the islands in 1867 when the US formally annexed them. -
Congress started to look into impeaching President Johnson. Their reasoning for doing so is his acts of high crimes and misdemeanors in office. They win in a 126-47 vote and Johnson becomes the first President to ever be impeached. -
Construction on the Eads Bridge which was the longest bridge in the world began in 1867. This was the first bridge to stretch across the Mississippi below the Missouri River. -
President Andrew Johnson was not keen on Stanton who was his Secretary of War at the time. He wanted to forcibly remove him from his cabinet but the recently passed Tenure Act prevented him from being able to do so. -
2 years after the end of the Civil War Nebraska is admitted into the union. This makes Nebraska the 37th state to become a part of the United States of America. -
The Tenure of Office Act was a law passed that restricted presidential power to remove office holders without getting senate approval first. This act was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson but was still passed anyway. -
The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 were acts outlining the process of readmitting southern states in America. These Acts divided the rebel states into 5 military districts where they would have to do certain things to be readmitted. -
Jefferson Davis was released from prison in Fort Monroe, Virginia after 3 months of legal litigation. His bail was set for $10,000 and was paid off. -
Following the civil War, the United States made the move of purchasing Alaska. Alaska was bought from Russia for approximately $7.2 million which would equate to around $125 million today. -
After the passing of the 15th Amendment, African Americans were given the right to vote. The election happening on November 16, 1867 was the first election that African Americans born in the U.S. could vote in.