Key Events-Civil War

  • The Nat Turner Rebellion

    A slave uprising in Virginia, where Nat Turner and his followers killed around 60 white people. Nat Turner and 100 others were exectuted. State goverment in Virginia starts talking about abolishing slavery.
  • War with Mexico

    The United States goes to war and gains land in the south-west
  • Split in the Democratic Party

    The party slips over slavery, ensures the election of Lincoln
  • Uncle Toms Cabin

    Harriet Beecher Stowe writes the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The book attacks slavery causing anger in the south and influences the north.
  • Formation of the Republican Party

    The Republican Party are outraged by the Kansas Nebraska Act and oppose the idea of extending slavery, Lincoln becomes one of the early leaders of the party.
  • The Dredd Scott Case

    The case, heard by the US Supreme Court, holds that slaves are always the property oftheir masters, even if they are taken into ‘free states’ or territories. Gains approval from the south and the north pushs for a ban on slavery.
  • John Browns Raid

    Brown raids the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, to steal guns and start a slave rebellion. The Union army stops him and Brown is hanged.
  • Fort Sumter

    The first battle of the Civil War, where Confederate forces fired on a Union fort. Marked the official start of the war.
  • CSA is Formed

    Southern states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. Directly led to the Civil War.
  • Ball Run

    First battle in the civil war that is won by the south
  • Antietam

    Invasion was repelled but many lives were lost.
  • Fredericksburg

    A major Confederate victory that devastated Union forces. It showed the strength of Southern defenses and prolonged the war.
  • Emancipation Proclamation

    Lincoln’s order freeing enslaved people in Confederate states. It changed the war’s purpose to a fight against slavery.
  • Re-election of Lincoln

    Lincoln is re-elected, ensuring the continuation of his war efforts
  • Assassination of Lincoln

    Lincoln was killed by John Wilkes Booth shortly after the war ended.