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Republican Party is formed
is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along 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The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. It also produced a violent uprising known as “Bleeding Kansas,” as proslavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote. -
President Lincoln was elected President
Abraham Lincoln won the election with 180 electoral votes against John C Breckenridge -
South Carolina Secedes from the United States
The decision to secede from the union was a result of the building tensions in the United States during the 1800s over the institution of slavery, states' rights, and tariffs -
Lincoln gives his second inaugural address
Lincoln uses his Second Inaugural to gently, but clearly, call out slavery as the reason for the war -
Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter
This battle is blamed for being the fight that started the Civil War when the South Carolina Amry fired in Fort Sumter -
First Battle of Bull Run is fought
This was marked the first major land battle of the American Civil War. This battle was fought in Manassas Junction Virginia -
Jefferson Davis was elected the president of the Confederacy
Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederacy through its whole existence during the Civil War -
The Merrimac and the Monitor fight of the Virginia coast
This battle is notable as history's first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of naval warfare. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh was an early battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War -
Robert E. Lee is named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
Robert E Lee was assumed command in the battle to defend the city Richmond from the Union forces -
Battle of Antietam
Lincoln used the victory to issue his preliminary emancipation proclamation and announced that unless the Confederates laid down their arms by January 1, 1863, he would free all slaves not residing in Union-controlled territory. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was an early battle of the civil war and stands as one of the greatest Confederate victories. -
Emancipation Proclamation is announced
This happened when the nation approached its third year of the civil war. This declared that all persons held as slaves shall be set free -
Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox
Confederate General Robert E. Lee agreed to surrender his Army of Northern Virginia, marking a symbolic end to the Civil War -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign -
Confederates surrender at Vicksburg
Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton surrendered the city of Vicksburg and the Confederate garrison defending it to Major General Ulysses S. Grant. -
Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address
President Lincoln delivered a short speech at the close of ceremonies dedicating the battlefield a cemetery at Gettysburg -
Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election
Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election
with 212 electoral votes -
President Lincoln Assassinated
Occurring near the end of the American Civil War, Lincoln's assassination was part of a larger conspiracy intended by Booth to revive the Confederate. He thought that if he eliminated the most powerful officials than he would revive the confederacy -
John Wilkes Booth is killed
Union soldiers tracked John Wilkes Booth down to a Virginia farm a few days after he shot President Lincoln