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One of Abraham Lincoln's longest speeches. Some say that he would never have become president if he hadn't made this speech.
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Abraham Lincoln visited Five Points, the most notorious slum in America. He spent the day with Sunday school children.
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Pony Express takes it's first run from Saint Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California.
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Abraham Lincoln is selected for as the U.S presidential candidate for the Republican Party
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Rifle used in the civil war by union soldiers was patent sometime in 1860
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Albert Hick, a pirate convicted of murder, was hung in Long Island, NY before thousands of spectators
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Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th president of the United States. First Republican president to oppose slavery.
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The first secession convention meets in Columbia, South Carolina.
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Aimed to resolve the secession crisis.
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South Carolina is the first southern state to secede from the Union
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Mississippi succeeds from the union
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Florida secedes from the union
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Jefferson Davis is appointed the first president of the Confederate States of America
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Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th president of the United States of America
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Confederate forces fire at Fort Sumter. War has formally begun
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President Lincoln issues a Proclamation calling for 75,000 militiamen
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The Battle of Big Bethel is the first land battle of the war in Virginia.
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Union General Mcdowell initially succeeds in driving back confederate forces until Confederate General Johnston and his troops arrive. Mcdowell and his army retreat to Washington
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A disastrous day that included the death of Union General Lyon. Confederate victory which shows their strength west of the Mississippi river.
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Lexington, Missouri falls to the Confederate forces under Sterling Price
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Union Victory weakened the Confederate hold on Kentucky
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Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the president of the Confederate States of America
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Union victory disrupts southern hold on a portion of the Mississippi River
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First major battle in Tennessee where Confederate General Johnston was killed. Was the bloodiest battle of the civil war with more than 23,000 casualties. Union victory helps General Grant secure his career further.
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Confederate General Johnston is injured and replaced by General Robert E. Lee
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General Lee's army attacks the "Army of the Potomac" under General George McClellan in a succession of battles beginning at Mechanicsville on June 26 and ending at Malvern Hill on July 1.
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Fought on the same ground where one year before, the Union army was defeated and sent reeling in retreat to Washington. The result of this battle is another Union defeat.
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The single bloodiest day of the war. Ends in General Lee's first invasion of the North. Following the North victory, President Lincoln introduces the Emancipation Proclamation.
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The Army of the Potomac, under General Ambrose Burnside, is soundly defeated by Lee's forces after a risky river crossing and sacking of the city.
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Fought between the Union Army of the Cumberland under General William Rosecrans and the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg, the costly Union victory frees middle Tennessee from Confederate control and boosts northern morale.
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The emancipation proclamation goes into effect. Some people believe it doesn't do enough to abolish slavery
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The north begins drafting soldiers for military services
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General Lee's greatest victory and "Stonewall" Jackson gets mortally wounded in this battle.
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Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant attack confederate defenses outside the city. If Vicksburg falls the Mississippi River will be completely controlled by the Union
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The bloodiest battle of the civil war. Both sides meet by chance and General Buford of the Union order his soldiers to take the high ground.
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Lee felt confident he could break Union lines. Confederates advance and are severely hurt by Union Artillery. North has a moral boost and the south lose hope.
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Confederates surrender to the union and a week later the Union controls the Mississippi River.
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Draft Riots begin in New York City and elsewhere as disgruntled workers and laborers, seething over the draft system that seemingly favors the rich, attack the draft office and African American churches. The riots continue through July 16.
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Union forces break the Confederate siege of the city in successive attacks. The most notable event is the storming of Lookout Mountain on November 24 and Battle of Missionary Ridge the following day.
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Lincoln Issues his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which would pardon those who participated in the "existing rebellion" if they take an oath to the Union.
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After weeks of digging, 109 Union officers made their escape from the notorious Libby Prison, 48 of the escapees were later captured and two drowned, 59 were able to make their way into Union lines.
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In Georgia, Camp Sumter Prison Camp opens. Universally referred to as Andersonville Prison Camp, it will become notorious for overcrowded conditions and a high death rate among its inmates.
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General Ulysses S. Grant, accompanying the Army of the Potomac under General Meade, issued orders for the campaign to begin on May 3. Lee responded by attacking the Union column in the dense woods and underbrush of an area known as the Wilderness, west of Fredericksburg, Virginia.
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Relentless and bloody Union attacks fail to dislodge Lee's army from its strong line of defensive works northeast of Richmond.
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In spite of being outnumbered almost two to one, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest attacks and routs the Union command under General Samuel Sturgis.
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After weeks of maneuvering and battles, Sherman's Army of the Cumberland and Army of the Tennessee smash headlong into Johnston's carefully planned defenses at Big and Little Kennesaw. Johnston remains on this line until July 2, when he retreats at the threat being flanked by Sherman's mobile force.
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a force of 6,000 Federal troops under General Lew Wallace, was arrayed to delay his advance. Though the battle was a Union defeat, it was also touted as "the battle that saved Washington" for it succeeded in holding back Early's march until troops could be sent to the capital's defense.
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The Union defeat of Nathan Bedford Forrest secured the supply lines to Sherman's armies operating against Atlanta, Georgia.
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General Sherman's Army of Georgia begins the "March to the Sea"
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The Confederate Army under John Bell Hood is thoroughly defeated and the threat to Tennessee ends.
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Union occupation of this fort at the mouth of the Cape Fear River closes access to Wilmington, the last southern seaport on the east coast that was open to blockade runners and commercial shipping.
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Sherman's Army leaves Savannah to march through the Carolinas.
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Wilmington, NC, falls to Union troops, closing the last important southern port on the east coast. On this same day, Joseph E. Johnston is restored to command the nearly shattered Army of the Tennessee, vice John B. Hood who resigned a month earlier.
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President Lincoln is elected for a second term in office
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Touted as "Lee's last offensive", Confederate troops under General John B. Gordon attack and briefly capture the Union fort in the Petersburg siege lines in an attempt to thwart Union plans for a late March assault. By day's end, the southerners have been thrown out and the lines remain unchanged.
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The Confederate defeat at Five Forks initiates General Lee's decision to abandon the Petersburg-Richmond siege lines.
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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.
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President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. On the same day, Fort Sumter, South Carolina is re-occupied by Union troops.
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Confederate President Jefferson Davis is captured near Irwinville, Georgia.
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The final battle of the Civil War takes place at Palmito Ranch, Texas. It is a Confederate victory.
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Removing an expiration date of the Bureau Act and encompassing freedmen and refugees everywhere in the United States—not just in the ex-Confederate states. His bill also expanded the power of military governors to enforce provisions to protect African Americans
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A black delegation led by Frederick Douglass meets with President Andrew Johnson at the White House to advocate black suffrage. The president expresses his opposition, and the meeting ends in controversy.
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President Andrew Johnson sent the Bureau Act back vetoed. Shocking news to the men in congress.
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Congress passes the Civil Rights Bill over Johnson's Veto. African Americans become citizens
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Racial violence rages in Memphis, Tennessee for three days as whites assault blacks on the streets. In the aftermath, 48 people, nearly all black, are dead, and hundreds of black homes, churches, and schools have been pillaged or burned. Many more are injured.
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Grant citizenship to “All persons born or naturalized in the United States,” thereby granting citizenship to former slaves.
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The Freedmen's Bureau Act became law on July 16, extending the work of the agency for two more years. Was closely related to the Civil Rights Act
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Tennessee is the first state to return to the union
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Riots and a race massacre break out in New Orleans, Louisiana. A white mob attacks blacks and Radical Republicans attending a black suffrage convention, killing 40 people
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Only 38,000 soldiers remain in the south. More than half stationed in some places were African American.
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Overriding President Johnson's veto, Congress grants black male citizens in the District of Columbia the right to vote.
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Peabody Fund forms to promote Black education in southern US
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Nebraska was admitted to the Union
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Congress passes the first series of Reconstruction Acts (Military, Command of the Army, and Tenure of Office). Congressional, or "Radical" Reconstruction commences.
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Congress passes the Second Reconstruction Act; military commanders in each southern district are to register all qualified adult males to vote.
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The U.S. buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million (1.9¢ per acre); this is dubbed a foolish purchase at the time, named "Seward's Folly" after the Secretary of State (William Henry Seward) who negotiated it.
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Congress passes the Third Reconstruction Act. Registrars are directed to go beyond the loyalty oath by determining the eligibility of each person who wants to take it; district commanders are authorized to re-take control by replacing the preexisting state officeholders.
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Johnson intentionally violates the Tenure of Office Act when he suspends Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and replaces him with General Ulysses S. Grant during a congressional recess. The Senate refuses to confirm the action, Grant returns the office to Stanton, but the President names Gen. Lorenzo Thomas to the post instead. Impeachment proceedings follow in 1868.
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US Congress commission looks into "impeachment" of President Andrew Johnson
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By the end of 1867, new elections have been held under the Radical Reconstruction plan in every southern state except Texas.
