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Period: to
Civil War
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Constitutional Union Party
Created a platform from the U. S. Constitution and selects John Bell for President and Edward Everett of Massachusetts for Vice-President. It represents southern Whigs and Know-nothings (American Party). -
National Democratic Convention
Southern delegates hold a National Democratic convention in Richmond. -
Lincoln gets elected president
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First to Resign from Senate
James Chesnut becomes the first Southerner to resign from the Senate. He is quickly followed by James H. Hammond -
First Wheeling Convention
In Preston County, Western Virginia holds its first organizational meeting, expressing a desire to "adhere to the Union". -
First Call for Help at Fort Sumter
Major Robert Anderson reports Fort Sumter is being threatened in Charleston as federal forces begin to improved Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter in the harbor. -
First Succession Convention
The first Secession Convention meets in Columbia, South Carolina. -
South Carolina Secessionist Convention
The convention decides unanimously to secede from the United States and appoints a committee to draw up the needed documents. -
South Carolina succeeds
South Carolina was the first Southern slave state to succeed from the union. -
Crittenden Compromise Rejected
Lincoln's opposition to a section of the Crittenden Compromise becomes public, ending the proposal's potential as a possible solution -
Mississippi succeeds
Mississippi was the second state to succeed from the Union. -
Florida succeeds
Florida was the third state to succeed from the Union. -
Alabama succeeds
Alabama was the fourth state to succeed from the Union. -
Georgia succeeds
Georgia was the fifth state to succeed from the Union. -
Louisiana Succeeds
Louisiana was the sixth state to succeed from the Union. -
Confederate States of America formed
The Confederate States of America consisted of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. They succeeded from the union because they feared Lincoln would ruin their way of life. -
Texas Succeeds
Texas was the seventh state to succeed from the Union. -
Fort Sumter
Unofficial start of the Civil War. Was a Union fort in Charleston, South Carolina -
Arkansas Succeeds
Arkansas was the eighth state to succeed from the Union. -
Tennessee Succeeds
Tennessee was the ninth state to succeed from the Union. -
North Carolina Succeeds
North Carolina was the tenth state to succeed from the Union. -
Virginia Succeeds
Virginia was the eleventh state to succeed from the Union. -
Bull Run
First official battle of the Civil War. Union met confederacy at a creek in Virginia, just 25 miles from Washington D.C. It was the first confederate victory. Stonewall Jackson got his nickname from this war. -
Battle of Fort Henry
First important victory for Ulysses S. Grant. Grant captured Fort Henry for the Union. -
Battle of Fort Donelson
Grant captures Fort Donelson for the Union. It ensured Kentucky would stay in the Union. -
Davis President Inaugurated of CSA
Jefferson Davis is inaugurated president of the Confederate States. -
Monitor vs. Merrimack
Battle between Confederate and Union ironclad ships. Stops use of wooden warships. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Confederates attacked the Union near the small church of Shiloh. The Union decided to attack again after. It was a Union victory. -
Battle of New Orleans
David Farragut captured Port Orleans for the Union. -
Seven Days Battle
Series of battles near Richmond, Virginia that lasted seven days from June 25 to July 1. Due to casualties McClellan retreated. -
Second Battle of Bull Run
Battle fought in Mananas in the same spot as the Battle of Bull Run. -
Battle of Harpers Ferry
The Battle of Harpers Ferry was part of the Maryland campaign. It was a Confederate victory. -
Battle of Antietam
Fought in Sharpsburg, Maryland, the battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single day battle in the war. It was a Union victory. -
Fredericksburg
Battle fought in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The confederate victory gained morale after Antietam. -
Emancipation Proclamtion
Military policy created by Lincoln that freed all slaves behind confederate lines. -
Enrollment Act
Lincoln calls for 1 million men for the war. Each man drafted was to either serve in the war of pay the government $300. -
Chancellorsville
South victory in Virginia. Stonewall Jackson accidentally shot by one of his men and died at this battle. -
Vicksburg
Grant captured Vicksburg for the Union. It split the confederacy in two. -
Battle of Gettysburg Ends
After the many casualties at Gettysburg Robert E. Lee is forced to retreat. This causes him to lose motivation and he tries to resign but fails. -
West Virginia Becomes a State
West Virginia is added to the Union. It was the first state to enter without having to pick between a free or slave state. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The turning point of the war for the Union. Caused Robert E. Lee to give up hope and attempt to resign. -
Draft Riots
A week of riots in Manhattan against the enrollment act. -
Battle of Chickamauga
Chickamauga was the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War. It lasted two days and was a confederate victory. -
Gettysburg Adress
Speech given by Lincoln that honored the dead and asked Americans to rededicate themselves to preserving the Union. -
Escape of Libby Prison
109 Union prisoners escaped Libby Prison. It was the largest escape of the war. -
Andersonville Opens
Andersonville prison camp is know for its cruel and inhumane conditions. It was overcrowded and little food was provided . It caused a lot of Union soldier's deaths. -
Grant Appointed Lt. General
Ulysses S. Grant is appointed lieutenant general by President Lincoln. Grant assumes command of all Union Armies in the field the next day. -
Thirteenth Amendment
The thirteenth amendment abolished slavery in the US. -
Fort Pillow
Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked the Union at Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River. Many African American troops were murdered by Forrest's troops after they had surrendered. -
Battle of Wilderness
Lee attacked the Union in the woods of Fredericksburg, Virginia. -
Atlanta Campaign
General William T. Sherman marched south from Tennessee into Georgia against the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Joseph Johnston, the objective being the city of Atlanta. -
Battle of Atlanta
Hood's second effort to throw back Union forces under Sherman brings him many casualties. General James McPherson, commander of the Union Army of the Tennessee, is killed during the fighting. -
Election of 1864
Lincoln is re-elected president. He ran against former Union general George McCllean. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
From November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. -
Confederates Surrender
Grant and Lee meet at Appomattox, Virginia where they arranged the confederate surrender. -
Fort Nisher
Union occupation of the fort at the end of the Cape Fear River, the last southern seaport on the east coast that was open to blockade runners and commercial shipping. -
Columbia Captured
Sherman's Army captures Columbia, South Carolina while Confederate defenders leave Charleston, South Carolina. -
Lincoln Inagurated
President Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated for his second term as president in Washington, DC. -
Attack on Fort Stedmen
"Lee's last offensive", Confederate troops under General John B. Gordon attack and capture the Union fort in the Petersburg siege lines in an attempt to prevent Union plans for a late March assault. -
Battle of Five Forks
The Confederate defeat at Five Forks initiates General Lee's decision to abandon the Petersburg-Richmond siege lines. -
Fall of Richmond
General Lee abandons Richmond and moves his army west in hopes of joining Confederate forces under General Johnston in North Carolina. -
Lee Surrenders Army of Northern Virginia
Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant at the home of Wilmer McLean in Appomattox Court House. -
Lincoln Assassination
While watching a play at Ford's Theater, Lincoln was shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth. -
Civil War Ends
General Simon Bolivar Buckner enters into terms for surrender of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi, which are agreed to on June 2, 1865. -
Lincoln's Birthday
The first formal observation of President Lincoln's birthday is held in Washington, D. C. -
Freedmen's Bureau
The Freedmen's bureau bill helped freed slaves in the South during reconstruction after the Civil War. -
Johnson Vetos Civil Rights Act
President Johnson veto the Civil Rights Act of 1866 because he states that it is unconstitutional. -
Congress Buys Ford's Theater
Congress buys Ford's Theater for $100,000. They then made it into the Army Medical Museum. -
Civil Rights Act
Federal law that stated every male person in the US would get the same rights as a white male. -
Winfield Scott Dies
General Winfield Scott dies in West Point, New York. -
Approval of 14th Amendment
Congress approves the 14th amendment to the constitution. -
Tennessee Readmitted Into US
After the Civil War, Tennessee was the first state to be readmitted into the Union. -
Admiral is Created
Congress creates the rank of Admiral. David Farragut is appointed Admiral. -
General of the Armies
Congress establishes "general of the armies" and Ulysses S. Grant is immediately promoted to 4-star general and put in this position. William Tecumseh Sherman assumes the rank of Lt. General. -
Black Suffrage in D.C.
Blacks in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto. -
Nebraska Becomes a State
The state of Nebraska is added to the Union. -
First Reconstruction Act
It temporarily divided the South into five military districts and outlined how governments based on universal (male) suffrage were to be organized. -
Tenure Office Act
A federal law that prevented the president from removing congressmen from office without approval from the Senate. -
Alexandria Rejects Negro Vote
Alexandria, Virginia rejects thousand of votes cast by Negroes, who were granted universal suffrage under the Reconstruction Act. -
General Philip Sheridan
General Philip Sheridan assumes command of the 5th Military district encompassing Louisiana and Texas. He designates New Orleans as his headquarters. -
Second Reconstruction Act
The Second Reconstruction Act added to the first. The First Reconstruction Act left the Southern States in confusion to whose role it was to reinforce the legislation. -
Purchase of Alaska
William P. Seward signed a treaty with Russia buying Alaska for 2 cents an acre. Democrats called it "Seward's Folly" -
Peace with Confederate States
Congress passes a bill admitting Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina into the Union. Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas, having refused to ratify the fourteenth amendment, were refused admission into the Union -
Third Reconstruction Act
It gave supreme power to the five Union generals overseeing Reconstruction in the five districts of the South.
