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When Abraham Lincoln, a known opponent of slavery, was elected president, the South Carolina legislature perceived a threat. Calling a state convention, the delegates voted to remove the state of South Carolina from the union known as the United States of America. The secession of South Carolina was followed by the secession of six more states. This secesion separated the slave holding states from the others giving the South a lot more man power with their excess slaves.
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Union General Benjamin Butler refuses to comply with the Fugitive Slave Law, and labels the runaway slaves crossing Union lines as "contraband of war". Congress has yet to enact a policy on the issue.
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Congress passes a law which declares that runaway or captured slaves can not be returned to their masters if they are used by their masters for military purposes.
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Lincoln overturns an emancipation order for Missouri issued by General John C. Frémont granting freedom to northern slaves of that state.
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Lincoln proposes a formal plan of gradual, compensated emancipation. Congress passes a resolution in favor of his plan, but none of the border states accept it. Congress prohibits, under threat of court-martial, the return of all slaves to their masters.
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Congress abolishes slavery in the District of Columbia, with financial compensation to former slaveowners. This was a small but effective start in retiring slavery throughout the states. .
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Congress bans slavery in the territories, without compensation to former slaveowners.
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Congress authorizes the president to enlist black military recruits, but Lincoln does not call for a general mobilization of blacks.
President Lincoln informs his cabinet that he plans to issue an emancipation proclamation. Secretary of State William Henry Seward convinces him to wait until after a major Union victory. -
Union forces repel Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s invasion of the North at Antietam, Maryland. Lee retreats back to Virginia.
Following the desired Union victory at Antietam, Lincoln announces the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. If the Confederacy does not surrender, the president will free all the slaves in Confederate territory. If the Confederate states do surrender, then their slaves will not be freed. -
The Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect. All the slaves in Confederate territory are declared free. The policy does not apply to the border states or to Southern territory held by the Union before January 1. Henceforth, as Union troops advance across the South, thousands of slaves are freed. The Emancipation Proclamation also reaffirms the president’s authority to enlist black servicemen, and initiates an effort to organize all-black regiments.
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Congress passes the Enrollment Act, creating a military draft. (The Confederacy had resorted to a draft in April 1862.)
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In response to implementation of the military draft, bloody riots erupt in cities across the North. The worst occurs in New York City, where mobs demolish draft offices, lynch several blacks, and destroy large sections of the city.
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Lincoln wins reelection against the Democratic presidential nominee, Union General George B. McClellan.
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Lincoln is assassinated, and Vice President Andrew Johnson succeeds to the presidency.
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The requisite number of states ratify the 13th Amendment, and it becomes part of the Constitution.
