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Antebellum Period
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General
Before the war, the US was transforming from an underdeveloped nation of farmers and frontiersmen into an urbanized economic powerhouse. The industrialized North and the agricultural South grew further apart. -
President Lincoln
President Lincoln had a very unpopular view on slavery. He was very shy on the issue at first, but he gradually got more concerned and courageous about the topic. -
Slavery
The population of the eleven Confederate states consisted of one-third (just under four million) slaves. -
President Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln lost his U.S. Senate race in 1858 because he was opposed to expantion of slavery. He was elected President in 1860 because he swept the votes from the North, becoming the first Republican president. -
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis was chosen as the President of the Confederate states. -
States (Confederacy)
South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas formed the first Confederate States. Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina seceded and joined the Confederacy after Lincoln called for troops from each state to recapture Sumter and other lost federal properties in the South. -
Fort Sumter
General Beauregard, in command of the Confederate armies around Charleston Harbor, opened fired on the Union garrison holding Fort Sumter. On April 13 garrison commander, Major Robert Anderson, surrendered the fort and was evacuated the next day. This was the start of the Civil War. -
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Civil War
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The First Battle of Bull Run
This was the first large battle of the war. Union troops gathered in Washington D.C. in hope of seizing Manassas, VA, which was an important railroad. The Confederate troops aligned the creek waiting for Union forces at Bull Run and defeated the Union troops. -
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Reconstuction
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Battle of Champion Hill
The decisive Union victory at Champion Hill was grand in forcing the Confederates out of the open field and into a worse position inside the walls of Vicksburg. -
Bloodiest Battle
The Battle of Gettysburg had the most casualties. 51,112 men were killed. (23,049 Union and 28,063 Confederate) -
Gettysburg Address
As one of the most important speeches in history, Lincoln spoke of the human equality talked about in the Declaration of Independence. He also talked about the all-important preservation of the Union created in 1776 and its ideal of self-government. -
Lincoln Abolishes Slavery
The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution states that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Slavery may have been abolished but unfortunately, racism can never be destroyed. -
America's Bloodiest Conflict
1,100,00 casualties occured and 620,00 lives were lost during the Civil War. -
Appomattox Court House
Lee was heading for the South Side Railroad at Appomattox Station when the Confederates were cut off once again and nearly surrounded by Union troops near the small village of Appomattox Court House. Despite a final desperate attempt to escape, Lee’s army was trapped. General Lee surrendered his remaining troops to General Grant. This was the end of the Civil War. -
Lincoln's Assassination
John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer, shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. The attack came only five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, which ended the Civil War. -
Ku Klux Klan
The "KKK" was formed at the law offices of Thomas M. Jones in Tennessee. Sadly, discrimination against African-Americans cruely continued even though slavery was abolished. -
President Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was impeached because he vetoed twenty Reconstruction bills and urged southern legislatives to reject the 14th Amendment. -
Secession
Secession did not become illegal untl after the war. The Surpreme Court determined that secession was unconstitutional. -
President Grant
Uylsses Grant was elected President and was re-elected again in 1872. -
New Amendments
The 14th Amendment made African-Americans citizens and protected citizens from discriminatory state laws. Southern states were required to ratify the this before being readmitted to the union. The 15th Amendment guaranteed African American men the right to vote. -
Minor v. Happersett
In Minor v. Happersett, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the equal protection portion of the 14thAmendment did not extend to women.
