-
The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. It also produced a violent uprising known as “Bleeding Kansas,” as proslavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote.
-
In Ripon, Wisconsin, the republican party is formed. Anti-slavery Whigs had begun meeting in the upper midwestern states to discuss the formation of a new party, which was the basis for the Republicans.
-
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States
-
South Carolina decides to leave the Union due to Lincoln getting elected, becomes the first-ever state to secede
-
the Confederate government moved the capital to Richmond, the South's second-largest city. The move served to solidify the state of Virginia's new Confederate identity and to sanctify the rebellion by associating it with the American Revolution.
-
Jefferson Davis becomes the leader of the Union-opposing confederates, joining the stand against the Union.
-
The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, a federal outpost in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, marks the first military engagement of the American Civil War.
-
Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia to give military authorities the necessary power to silence dissenters and rebels.
-
The First Battle of Bull Run, or the First Battle of Manassas, takes place near Manassas in northern Virginia and ends in a Confederate rout of Union forces.
-
First warship battle of the Civil War, Confederates stand their ground against the powerful Union.
-
In a fierce battle at Shiloh Union rally from almost near defeat to drive back the Confederate army. Both sides are immobilized for the next three weeks because of the heavy casualties, including more than 13,000 on the Union side and more than 11,000 on the Confederate side.
-
Robert E. Lee assumes command of the confederates in a battle to defend the city of Richmond from Union forces.
-
The battle at Antietam, Maryland, is regarded as a Union victory in an otherwise bleak year for Union forces in the East. However, the casualties set a grisly record.
-
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.
-
Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. It states that “all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” The proclamation also allows black men to serve in the Union army.
-
This event took place in Chancellorsville, widely known as a significant win for the Confederacy. However a win, there were some major casualties. This included Lt. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. During this battle, one of the deadliest days occurred.
-
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle rages over three days, involving heavy artillery duels and high casualties on both sides. The battle is considered a major turning point in the eastern theater.
-
In the western theater of the war, General Ulysses S. Grant lays siege to the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Confederates surrender on July 4.
-
The anger of working-class New Yorkers over a new federal draft law during the Civil War sparked five days of some of the bloodiest and most destructive rioting in U.S. history. Hundreds of people were killed, many more seriously injured, and African Americans were often the target of the rioters’ violence.
-
Lincoln delivered one of the most famous speeches in United States history at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery.
-
General William T. Sherman captures Atlanta, Georgia. Sherman adopts a strategy of “total war” on his march through Georgia and the Carolinas. His troops destroy crops, supplies, railroads, bridges, and many small industries to weaken support for the war.
-
Lincoln was a republican and McClellan was a democrat. Lincoln received the majority of the votes, and also received the majority of the Electoral College votes.
-
This started in Atlanta Georgia and ended in Savannah Georgia. It included Union General William T. Sherman. When he abandoned his supply line and marched across to the Atlantic Ocean, he proved that the Confederate population was not protected. He wanted people to notice that their people weren't protected by their government. He believed that marching represented power. He divided 60,000 troops to help march.
-
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution says that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." It abolishes slavery in the United States
-
It was created to help the slaves that were moving from slavery to freedom. It was run by the War Department, so when slaves were considered free men, they could go there to help the transition better.
-
Lincoln, after being elected for a second term, addressed the people regarding the war when he stated to, "bind up the nation's wounds" caused by the Civil War and to move toward a lasting peace.
-
General Lee abandons Richmond and moves his army west in hopes of joining Confederate forces under General Johnston in North Carolina.
-
John Broun Gordon’s corps and Fitzhugh Lee’s men formed a line of battle at the courthouse. General Robert E. Lee wanted to make another attempt of escaping the Unions and getting his supplies. Lee’s army was surrounded and forced to surrender to Grant.
-
On April 14 President Lincoln is shot in Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., by John Wilkes Booth.
-
Soldier Boston Corbett shoots and kills the murderer of the 16th president of the United States