Civil War Virtual Timeline

  • Republican Party is formed

    Republican Party is formed

    The Republican Party was made in 1854 to go against the Kansas–Nebraska Act as well as expansion of slavery.
  • Kansas-Nebraska Act passed

    Kansas-Nebraska Act passed

    A territorial act passing a law that created 2 new territories, and allowed popular sovereignty (States having the right to vote weather they are a slave state or free state.)
  • Abraham Lincoln elected president

    Abraham Lincoln elected president

    Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States of America.
  • South Carolina votes to secede from the U.S

    South Carolina votes to secede from the U.S

    The state of S.C decided to secede from the U.S because of the election of Lincoln and his views contradicted with the Southerners.
  • Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter

    Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter

    Fort Sumter had been bombed by the South Carolina militia. Returning gunfire had been made and resulted in the surrender by the United States Army. This had started off the Civil War.
  • Lincoln suspends habeas corpus

    Lincoln suspends habeas corpus

    Lincoln had suspended habeas corpus, which gave power to arrest and detain people who were deemed threatening to the government.
  • First Battle of Bull Run is fought

    First Battle of Bull Run is fought

    The first major battle in the Civil War. The confederates won against the union both sides suffering casualties.
  • Jefferson Davis elected president of the Confederacy

    Jefferson Davis elected president of the Confederacy

    Jefferson Davis had been elected to the Confederate States of America.
  • The Merrimack and the Monitor fight of the Virginia coast

    The Merrimack and the Monitor fight of the Virginia coast

    History's first naval battle using ironclad warships. It was a Confederate attempt to break the Union blockade of Southern ports and was a neutral victory.
  • Battle of Shiloh

    Battle of Shiloh

    The Confederates made a surprise attack on Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant in Tennessee. The Confederates could not hold their positions and were forced back so the battle resulted in a Union victory.
  • Robert E. Lee is named commander

    Robert E. Lee is named commander

    Robert E. Lee, part of the Confederate States Army, is named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia.
  • Battle of Antietam

    Battle of Antietam

    A deadly one-day battle between the Union and Confederate army. The Union claimed victory and the battle resulted in Lincoln releasing his Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862.
  • Battle of Fredericksburg

    Battle of Fredericksburg

    A battle that took place in houses and on the streets of Fredericksburg. It was urban warfare between the Union and Federals resulting in a Union victory.
  • Emancipation Proclamation is announced

    Emancipation Proclamation is announced

    Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, it declared "all persons held as slaves are, and henceforward shall be free." (In the allowed states.)
  • Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy

    Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy

    Once Virginia seceded the Confederate government moved the capital to the South's second largest city, Richmond. 4
  • Period: to

    Battle of Chancellorsville

    A huge Confederate victory for Robert E Lee.
  • Battle of Gettysburg

    Battle of Gettysburg

    Robert E. Lee created a plan to invade the north, bringing the civil war to an end, yet it was stopped by the Union.
  • Confederates surrender at Vicksburg

    Confederates surrender at Vicksburg

    General John C. Pemberton surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant after suffering heavy casualties and loss of supplies.
  • New York City draft riots

    New York City draft riots

    Congress passed a law making all men 20 to 45 liable for the military. The government enforced the draft in New York yet started a huge NYC riot.
  • Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address

    Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address

    President Lincoln gave a speech dedicating the battlefield a cemetery at Gettysburg.
  • Atlanta is captured

    Atlanta is captured

    The Union commanded by William T. Sherman, captured an important supply hub and defeated Confederates defending the city.
  • Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election

    Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election

    President Abraham Lincoln (National Union Party) defeated former General George B. McClellan (Democratic party) 212-21.
  • Sherman begins his March to the Sea

    Sherman begins his March to the Sea

    William T. Sherman takes an expedition across Georgia, by his lead Georgia's civilian population was forced into abandoning the Confederate cause by use of fear. Sherman's soldiers stole food and livestock while they burned houses and barns of those resisting the campaign.
  • Congress passes the 13th Amendment

    Congress passes the 13th Amendment

    Abolished slavery in the U.S.
  • Freedman’s Bureau is created

    Freedman’s Bureau is created

    Congresses passed "Freedman's Bureau" which provides newly freed blacks with aid such as land, medical services, clothing and shelter.
  • Lincoln gives his second inaugural address

    Lincoln gives his second inaugural address

    Lincoln tells the country that North and South should have mutual forgiveness, and that the true mettle of a nation is in its capacity for charity.
  • Richmond falls to the Union Army

    Richmond falls to the Union Army

    Richmond was the capital of the Confederates and when taken down was a sign the confederacy was on it's last legs.
  • President Lincoln assassinated

    President Lincoln assassinated

    President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth while at Fords theater. Booth did not agree with Lincolns presidency and campaign.
  • John Wilkes Booth is killed

    John Wilkes Booth is killed

    John Wilkes Booth was killed by Union soldiers, who tracked him down 12 days after he assassinated Lincoln.
  • Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox

    Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox

    Robert E. Lee surrenders 28,000 Confederate troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in the Appomattox Court House in Virginia. This brings an end to the Civil War.

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