Civil wars timeline

By Kyzer
  • States vs Federal rights

    Since the revolution, 2 camps emerged. There were those who argued for grater states rights and the ones who argued for greater federal government control. The first organized government in the U.S. was the Articles of Confederation. The 13 states formed a weak government. Eventually the weakness of the articles caused the leaders to work together and form the U.S constitution. Many felt it ignored the right of states to be independent and caused nullification which moved toward secession.
  • Economic differences between the North and South

    In 1793 the cotton gin was invented. It was cpable to reduce the time it took to seperate seeds from cotton. Overtime planitations were willing to move crops to cotton, therefore needed more cheap lavor. Thus the south became a crop economy and depended on slaves. On the other hand, the north was more industrialized and turned raw cotton into a finished product and spiked economically.
  • Treaty of Ghent

    The Treaty of Ghent, signed in the Belgian city of the same name, ends the War of 1812 between the U.S. and Britain. Historians usually consider the end of the War of 1812 to be the approximate starting point of the antebellum period.
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    Antebellum Period

    The Antebellum period was in no specific time period but the first series of events began in 1814 When the treaty of Ghent was signed. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in the Belgian city of the same name, ends the War of 1812 between the U.S. and Britain. Historians usually consider the end of the War of 1812 to be the approximate starting point of the antebellum period. As for when the Antebellum period ended, Was around the time the civil war sarted. Antebellum in latin means "before the war"
  • President thomas Jefferson

    Felt that slavery was necessary for the success of the South
    Controversy: Had illegitimate child with house maid (slave)
  • General William Preston

    William Preston was a leading representative of Kentucky's slaveholding, landed gentry, the group who dominated economic, political, and social life in the commonwealth before the Civil War. As a legislator, diplomat, and soldier, Preston defended the interests of his region for three decades, and his successes and failures were linked to the fortunes of the South.
  • (Missouri compromise) The fight between slave and non slave proponents

    As America expanded, the lands gained the louisiana purchase and the mexican war. The Missouri compromise in 1820 prohibited lavery in states from the louisiana purchase.
  • (1850 compromise) The fight between slave and non slave proponents

    David Wilmot prposed the Wilmot Provisio in 1845 which created the 1850 compromise for balance between slave and fee states.
  • (Kansas-Nebraska) The fight between slave and non slave proponents

    In 1854 the Kansas nebraska act created two new territories that would allow the states to use popular sovereignty to determine whether they would be free or slave. The real issue occurred in Kansas where pro-slavery Missourians began to pour into the state to help force it to be slave. They were called "Border Ruffians." Problems came to a head in violence at Lawrence, Kansas. The fighting that occurred caused it to be called "Bleeding Kansas."
  • The election of Abraham lincoln

    Even though things were already coming to a head, when Lincoln was elected in 1860, South Carolina issued its "Declaration of the Causes of Secession." They believed that Lincoln was anti-slavery and in favor of Northern interests. Before Lincoln was even president, seven states had seceded from the Union: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.
  • Confederacy fomed

    7 states for confederacy, write thier own constitution, and plan for an independent nation
  • Ft. Sumter

    Ft sumpter attacked in april 1861 when lincoln decides to supply Ft. Sumter but wants the shouth to fire the first shot.
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    The Civil War

    There were 5 causes to the civil war.
    1) Economic and social differences in north and south
    2) States vs federal rights
    3) The fight between slave and non-slave proponents
    4) Growth of the abolition movement
    5) election of Abe lincoln
  • Manassas (1st battle)

    Gen. McDowell leads 30,000 men against Gen. Johnston's 22,000 Southern troops in an attempt to crush the rebels and go "On to Richmond." South scores victory as Union troops flee back to Washington in disarray. McDowell replaced by Gen. McClellan
  • Shiloh

    Grant overcomes Southern forces with heavy losses for each side: 13,000 Union casualties, 11,000 for South
  • manassas (2nd battle)

    McClellan replaced by Gen. Pope. Lee and Gen. Stonewall Jackson defeat Union troops again at Manassas and Pope is replaced by McClellan
  • Antietam

    Heavily outnumbered, Lee's troops face McClellan in bloody fighting. Over 23,000 casualties (more than all previous American wars combined). Lee retreats to Virginia
  • Emancipation proclamation

    With victory at Antietam, Lincoln announces that on 1/1/63, all slaves in the rebelling states would be free. Does not affect border states. Forces European nations to recognize that choosing sides in the Civil War is to take a stand on slavery
  • Fredericksburg

    Gen. Burnside attacks Lee's fortified position and suffers 10,000 casualties (to Lee's 5000).
  • Gettysburg

    Over 165,000 soldiers participate in the largest battle in the Western Hemisphere. After three days of fighting, Lee retreats, leaving 4,000 dead Confederates. Total casualties: 23,000 Union, 28,000 Confederates
  • Wilderness and spotsylvania

    Lee stops Union troops at the Wilderness, but Grant resumes march to RichmondThough suffering huge losses (55,000 men to South's 31,000), Grant states "I propose to fight on this line if it takes all summer"
  • The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands

    The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands (or the Freedmen's Bureau) was organized to provide relief and assistance to the former slaves, including health services, educational services, and abandoned land services. Congress passed an act on March 3, 1865 to establish the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. The program was administered by the Department of War and was first headed by General Oliver Otis Howard who was appointed to the position on May 13, 1865 by Lincoln
  • Battle of Appomattox Court House

    Lee, refusing to see his troops suffer any further, surrenders to Grant. Southern troops given generous terms of surrender
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    Reconstruction Period

    The period after the Civil War, 1865 - 1877, was called the Reconstruction period. Abraham Lincoln started planning for the reconstruction of the South during the Civil War as Union soldiers occupied huge areas of the South. He wanted to bring the Nation back together as quickly as possible and in December 1863 he offered his plan for Reconstruction which required that the States new constitutions prohibit slavery.
  • An Act to Confer Civil Rights

    Southern legislatures passed laws that restricted the civil rights of the emancipated former slaves. Mississippi was the first state to institute laws that abolished the full civil rights of African-Americans. "An Act to Confer Civil Rights on Freedmen, and for Other Purposes," a very misleading title, was passed in 1865. Other states quickly adopted their own versions of the codes, some of which were so restrictive that they resembled the old system of slavery such as forced labor.
  • Growth of the Abolition Movement

    Increasingly, the northerners became more polarized against slavery. Sympathies began to grow for abolitionists and against slavery and slaveholders. This occurred especially after some major events including: the publishing of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, the Dred Scott Case, John Brown's Raid, and the passage of the fugitive slave act that held individuals responsible for harboring fugitive slaves even if they were located in non-slave states.
  • 13th Amendment

    13th Amendment
    In January 1865, Congress proposed an amendment to the Constitution which would abolish slavery in the United States. On December 18, 1865, Congress ratified the Thirteenth Amendment formally abolishing slavery.
  • Civil rights act was passed

    Although Congress responded with legislation that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1866, States kept on the books laws that continued the legacy of the black codes and, therefore, second-class citizenship for the newly freed slaves. In 1866, the Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress which outlined a number of civil liberties including the right to make contracts, own and sell property and receive equal treatment under
    the law.
  • The first reconstruction act

    The first Reconstruction Act was passed by Congress on March 2, 1867. Five military districts each under the leadership of a prominent military general were carved out in the south and new elections were held which allowed the vote to black males.
  • 14th amendment

    14th amendment
    Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment in 1867. The amendment was designed to provide citizenship and civil liberties to the recently freed slaves.
  • Black Friday

    Black Friday on the New York gold exchange. Financiers Jay Gould and Jim Fisk attempt to corner the available gold supply, and try unsuccessfully to involve President Grant in the illegal plan
  • Hiram Revels First African-American Senator

    The first African-American senator—Hiram R. Revels (Republican) of Mississippi —takes office, though he serves only one year.
  • Fifteenth amendment

    Fifteenth amendment
    The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified: universal male suffrage is now the law of the land.
  • KKK

    Congress passes the Ku Klux Klan Act, a more far-reaching reform than the Enforcement Acts. This is the first time that specific crimes committed by individuals are deemed punishable by federal law.
  • Liberal Republican Convention

    The Liberal Republican Convention meets at Cincinnati. Leaders of the group include many prominent Republicans unhappy about what they perceive as vindictive Reconstruction policies and corruption in government, which they call Grantism. New York newspaperman Horace Greeley receives their nomination. Greeley's earlier radicalism, high tariff views, and well-known eccentricity repel many who oppose Grant. The Democrats, on July 9, also nominate Greeley.
  • Panic of 1870

    Financial panic and depression follow the failure of the Philadelphia investment house owned by Jay Cooke, who had helped finance the Union war effort by selling federal bonds to farmers and workers. Of the country's 364 railroads, 89 will go bankrupt. Some 18,000 businesses will fail in the next two years
  • Freedmen's bank fails

    The Freedmen's Savings Bank fails, with only $31,000 to reimburse its 61,000 remaining depositors. The average loss is $20 per customer.
  • Whiskys Ring scandal

    The Whisky Ring scandal is exposed; a group of public officials and liquor distillers have defrauded the federal government of millions by bribing liquor tax collectors. Orville E. Babcock, Grant's private secretary, was involved in the scandal and only acquitted through the personal intervention of the president.
  • Close election

    In the presidential election, the outcome in the Electoral College appears too close to be conclusive in the campaign of Samuel Tilden (Democrat) versus Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican).
  • Hayes Wins Election but Loses Popular Vote

    Republican Rutherford B. Hayes is declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden won the popular vote.