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Prior to the start of the war, Davis had argued against secession, but when Mississippi seceded he resigned from the U.S. Senate.
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The Cooper Union speech or address, known at the time as the Cooper Institute speech, was delivered by Abraham Lincoln on February 27, 1860, at Cooper Union, in New York City.
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The Democratic National Convention, meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, could not agree on a nominee. The only thing they did agree on was to continue the debate in Baltimore the next month.
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The Republican Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois. This was known as the 2nd Republican Convention.
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Lincoln was selected in the running as the Republican candidate.
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Abraham Lincoln beats John C. Breckinridge, Stephen A. Douglas, and John Bell and is elected as the 16th President of the United States, the first Republican to hold that office.
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South Carolina calls for a convention on December 17 to decide if the state should secede from the Union
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James Chesnut becomes the first Southerner to resign from the Senate. He is quickly followed by James H. Hammond
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When the ordinance was adopted on December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first slave state in the south to declare that it had seceded from the United States.
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A proclamation issued on December 24, 1860, by the government of South Carolina to explain its reasons for seceding from the United States.
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The Confederate States of America is formed with Jefferson Davis, a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army officer, as president.
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Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th president of the United States.
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The Civil War begins at 4:30 a.m. Confederates under General Pierre Beauregard open fire with 50 cannons upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.
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President Lincoln issues a Proclamation calling for 75,000 militiamen, and summoning a special session of Congress for July 4.
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Virginia seceded from the Union, followed by Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. This formed an eleven state Confederacy with a population of 9 million, including nearly 4 million slaves. The Union would soon have 21 states and a population of over 20 million.
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President Lincoln issues a Proclamation of Blockade against Southern ports. For the duration of the war the blockade limits the ability of the rural South to stay well supplied in its war against the industrialized North.
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Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army. "I cannot raise my hand against my birthplace, my home, my children." Lee then goes to Richmond, Virginia, is offered command of the military and naval forces of Virginia, and accepts.
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Lincoln, in a speech to Congress, states the war is..."a People's contest...a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men..." The Congress authorizes a call for 500,000 men.
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The Union Army under General Irvin McDowell suffers a defeat at Bull Run 25 miles southwest of Washington. Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson earns the nickname "Stonewall," as his brigade resists Union attacks.
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President Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as Commander of the Department of the Potomac, replacing McDowell.
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Victory for Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Tennessee, capturing Fort Henry, and ten days later Fort Donelson. Grant earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant.
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Confederate surprise attack on General Ulysses S. Grant's unprepared troops at Shiloh on the Tennessee River on April 6th leading into the 7th. This resulted with 13,000 Union killed and wounded and 10,000 Confederates.
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17 Union ships under the command of Flag Officer David Farragut move up the Mississippi River then take New Orleans, the South's greatest seaport.
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The Seven Days Battles as Lee attacks McClellan near Richmond, resulting in very heavy losses for both armies. McClellan then begins a withdrawal back toward Washington. This lasts from June 25 until July 1.
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75,000 Federals under General John Pope are defeated by 55,000 Confederates under General Stonewall Jackson and General James Longstreet at the second battle of Bull Run in northern Virginia.
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Lee invades the North with 50,000 Confederates and heads for Harpers Ferry.
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The bloodiest day in U.S. military history as General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan and superior Union forces. By nightfall 26,000 men are dead, wounded, or missing. Lee then withdraws to Virginia.
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President Lincoln discusses an Emancipation Proclamation to free all slaves.
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The president replaces McClellan with General Ambrose E. Burnside as the new Commander of the Army of the Potomac.
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Army of the Potomac under General Burnside suffers a costly defeat at Fredericksburg in Virginia with a loss of 12,653 men after 14 frontal assaults on well entrenched Rebels on Marye's Heights.
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The president appoints General Joseph Hooker as Commander of the Army of the Potomac, replacing Burnside.
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General Grant is placed in command of the Army of the West, with orders to capture Vicksburg.
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The Union Army under General Hooker is decisively defeated by Lee's much smaller forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia as a result of Lee's brilliant and daring tactics. Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson is mortally wounded by his own soldiers. (May 1-4)
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Stonewall Jackson dies a tragic death due to his wounds that came from his own soldiers.
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President Lincoln appoints General George G. Meade as commander of the Army of the Potomac, replacing Hooker. Meade is the 5th man to command the Army in less than a year.
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From July 1-3, the war takes a turn when the Confederates are defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.
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The president meets with abolitionist Frederick Douglass who pushes for full equality for Union 'Negro troops.'
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A Confederate victory by General Braxton Bragg's Army at Chickamauga leaves Gen. William S. Rosecrans' Union Army of the Cumberland trapped in Chattanooga, Tennessee under Confederate siege. (Sept. 19-20)
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Lincoln delivered this speech for the dedication of Soldier's National Cemetery, a cemetery for Union soldiers killed at the Battle Of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. This speech was under five minutes, and it was as powerful of a speech as the previous one that was delivered, which lasted for two hours.
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The Rebel siege of Chattanooga ends as Union forces under Grant defeat the siege army of General Braxton Bragg. (Nov. 23-25)
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President Lincoln appoints General Grant to command all of the armies of the United States.
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A costly mistake by Grant results in 7,000 Union casualties in twenty minutes during an offensive against fortified Rebels at Cold Harbor in Virginia.
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Union forces miss an opportunity to capture Petersburg and cut off the Confederate rail lines. As a result, a nine month siege of Petersburg begins with Grant's forces surrounding Lee.
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At Atlanta, Sherman's forces battle the Rebels now under the command of Gen. John B. Hood, who replaced Johnston.
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Democrats nominate George B. McClellan for president to run against Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln.
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Atlanta is captured by Sherman's Army. The victory greatly helps President Lincoln's bid for re-election.
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Abraham Lincoln is re-elected president, defeating Democrat George B. McClellan. Lincoln carries all but three states with 55 percent of the popular vote and 212 of 233 electoral votes.
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After destroying Atlanta's warehouses and railroad facilities, Sherman, with 62,000 men, begin a March to the Sea.
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Hood's Rebel Army of 23,000 is crushed at Nashville by 55,000 Federals including Negro troops under General George H. Thomas.
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Sherman reaches Savannah in Georgia leaving behind a 300 mile long path of destruction 60 miles wide all the way from Atlanta.
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The U.S. Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution that abolished slavery.
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The last offensive for Lee's Army of Northern Virginia begins with an attack on the center of Grant's forces at Petersburg. Four hours later the attack is broken.
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Grant's forces begin a general advance and break through Lee's lines at Petersburg. Confederate General Ambrose P. Hill is killed.
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General Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to General Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
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Celebrations break out in Washington.
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That night, Lincoln and his wife Mary see the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater. At 10:13 p.m., during the third act of the play, John Wilkes Booth shoots the president in the head.
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Lincoln is officially announced dead to the public at 7:22 am.
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John Wilkes Booth is shot and killed in a tobacco barn in Virginia.
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Abraham Lincoln is laid to rest in Oak Ridge Cemetery, outside Springfield, Illinois.
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The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, is finally ratified, and slavery is abolished.
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The last issue of the Liberator is published, and now the newspaper has now become unnecessary because the slaves have been freed.
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One of the most successful bank robbers, Jesse James, commits the first daylight bank robbery with his gang in Liberty, Missouri.
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is founded in New York by Henry Bergh.
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Congress approves the minting of a five cent piece, known as the nickel.
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The 14th amendment is ratified. This gives civil rights to all the freed African Americans.
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Following the Civil War, Tennessee becomes the first state readmitted to the Union.
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Congress passes the legislation making General of the Army a rank. Ulysses S. Grant is the first to hold that title.
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The Atlantic Cable is established allowing transatlantic telegraph communication for the first time.
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The first train robbery takes place. The Reno brothers get away with $13,000.
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Jesse James and his gang robs a bank in Lexington, Missouri. They get away with $2,000.
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African American males are given the right to vote in Washington D.C. -- Congress over came President Johnson's veto to give the African Americans this right.
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The first reconstruction act sets up five military districts in the South, each under the control of a military commander.
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Jesse James robs a bank in Savannah, Missouri. The attempt failed with one casualty.
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African Americans stage a ride on streetcars in New Orleans to protest segregation.
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President Andrew Johnson announces the purchase of Alaska. This would be the second to last state added to the United States of America.
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Johnson vetoes the third reconstruction act which spells out election procedures in the South and reasserts congressional control over the Reconstruction.
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Johnson suspends Stanton as Secretary of War after the two clash over reconstruction plans. Johnson places Ulysses S. Grant in the position.
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The United States officially takes possession of Alaska from Russia. $7.2 million is paid for it.
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Congress looks into impeaching Johnson for his lack of effectiveness and unwillingness to follow through with reconstruction.
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Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry.
