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60
South Carolina votes to secede from the United States
South Carolina threatened to secede from the union if the federal government attempted to enforce the tariffs. -
60
Abraham Lincoln elected president
Lincoln took office following the 1860 presidential election, in which he won a plurality of the popular vote in a four-candidate field. -
61
Jefferson Davis elected president of the Confederacy
Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederate States of America. He ran without opposition, and the election simply confirmed the decision that had been made by the Confederate Congress earlier in the year. -
61
First Battle of Bull Run is fought
Federal forces under General Irwin McDowell attempted to flank Confederate positions by crossing Bull Run but were turned back. The end result of the battle was a Confederate victory and Federal forces retreated to the defenses of Washington, DC. -
61
Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter
At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Harbor. -
61
The Merrimac and the Monitor fight of the Virginia coast
Was history's first naval battle between ironclad warships.It was part of a Confederate effort to break the Union blockade of Southern ports, including Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia, that had been imposed at the start of the war. -
61
Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy
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. -
61
Anaconda Plan short summary
The plan called for a naval blockade of the Confederate littoral, a thrust down the Mississippi, and the strangulation of the South by Union land and naval forces. -
62
Battle of Fredericksburg
Confederate victory. The Union Army of the Potomac suffered more than 12,500 casualties. Lee's Confederate army counted approximately 6,000 losses. The Federals retreated. -
62
Battle of Antietam
Antietam, the deadliest one-day battle in American military history, showed that the Union could stand against the Confederate army in the Eastern theater. -
62
Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election
It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1864. Near the end of the American Civil War, incumbent President Abraham Lincoln of the National Union Party easily defeated the Democratic nominee, former General George B. McClellan, by a wide margin of 212–21 in the electoral college, with 55% of the popular vote. -
62
Battle of Shiloh
The South's defeat at Shiloh ended the Confederacy's hopes of blocking the Union advance into Mississippi and doomed the Confederate military initiative in the West. With the loss of their commander, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, in battle, Confederate morale plummeted. -
62
Robert E. Lee is named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
Robert E. Lee commanded the Army of Northern Virginia, the most successful of the Southern armies during the American Civil War, and ultimately commanded all the Confederate armies. -
63
Battle of Gettysburg
The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point. -
63
Emancipation Proclamation is announced
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
63
Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address
The main message of the Gettysburg Address is that ideals are worth dying for and that it is up to the living to carry on the work of those who died to protect ideals. -
63
Battle of Chancellorsville
Confederate troops, commanded by Robert E. Lee and led first by Stonewall Jackson and then by Jeb Stuart, soundly defeated the Union forces under the command of Fighting Joe Hooker. But this victory came at a cost. -
63
Confederates surrender at Vicksburg
The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.” The Vicksburg Campaign began in 1862 and ended with the Confederate surrender -
63
54th Massachusetts fighting a Second Battle of Ft. Wagner
The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment led a second U.S. assault against Fort Wagner. The Second Battle of Fort Wagner served as the 54th Massachusetts's trial by fire. -
63
Lincoln suspends habeas corpus
To suspend habeas corpus throughout the Union in any case involving prisoners of war, spies, traitors, or any member of the military. -
63
New York City draft riots
A mob in New York wrecked the main recruiting station. Then, for three days, crowds of white workers marched through the city, destroying buildings, factories, streetcar lines, homes. -
64
Atlanta is captured
Sherman's goal was to destroy the Army of the Tennessee, capture Atlanta and cut off vital Confederate supply lines. -
64
Sherman begins his March to the Sea
Sherman's March to the Sea was an American Civil War campaign. General William Tecumseh Sherman led troops through the Confederate state of Georgia, pillaging the countryside and destroying both military outposts and civilian properties. -
64
Congress passes the 13th Amendment
It forbids chattel slavery across the United States and in every territory under its control, except as a criminal punishment. -
65
President Lincoln assassinated
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. -
65
John Wilkes Booth is killed
After the authorities set the barn ablaze, Union soldier Boston Corbett fatally shot him in the neck. Paralyzed, he died a few hours later. Of the eight conspirators later convicted, the four were soon hanged. -
65
Lincoln gives his second inaugural address
On March 4, 1865, as the Civil War entered its final weeks, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address from the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. -
65
Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox
Precipitating the capitulation of other Confederate forces and leading to the end of the bloodiest conflict in American history. -
65
Appomattox Court House--Surrender of Lee’s forces
The heart of the terms was that Confederates would be paroled after surrendering their weapons and other military property. -
65
Freedmen's Bureau is created
To provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans. -
65
Richmond falls to the Union Army
As a result, Lee was forced to move the Army of Northern Virginia out of Petersburg, fleeing to the west in the hope of connecting with other Confederate forces and increasing the number of his troops. -
65
The Battle of the Crater
The Battle of the Crater, part of the Petersburg Campaign, was the result of an unusual attempt, on the part of Union forces, to break through the Confederate defenses just south of the critical railroad hub of Petersburg, Virginia, during the American Civil War -
65
The Battle of the Crater
The result of an unusual attempt, on the part of Union forces, to break through the Confederate defenses just south of the critical railroad hub of Petersburg, Virginia, during the American Civil War