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The Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln was elected to be the next president of the United States. This election was crucial because the issues of slavery were on the rise. Lincoln knew that he needed to change that. The results of the election were that Lincoln was the next president which meant the southern states knew that their slaves were on the line. This is when they started to succeed from the union. Keep in mind that Lincoln had no states from the South vote for him. -
The First State Succeed from the Union
South Carolina became the first state to succeed from the union. Most of the other states saw what they had done and jumped on the bandwagon. In the next coming months, all of the states in the south had left. This led to the creation of The Confederate States of America. -
The Attempted 13th Amendment
In congress there was a preposition made about a 13th amendment. It stated, "no amendment shall be made to the constitution which all authorized or give congress the power to abolish or interfere within any state which the domestic institutions therefore including that of a persons held to labor or service by the laws of said state" This was sent to the states but never past leaving it unratified. -
The Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
On this date, Lincoln was inaugurated into office. He was facing the Civil war head-on now and this was the time for Americans to start to turn the world around and bring the states back together. -
Shots Fired from Enemy Lines
There was tension brewing in the states and the White House. Lincoln decided that it was time to make the call. South Carolina was filled with Confederate soldiers in Charleston. Finally Lincoln sent his soldiers to the line. The Enemy fired the first shots. This shot was the flare that initiated the Civil War. -
Congress Makes the First Steps
The war was still in full effect at this time. Congress knew that they needed to take a step in the right direction. They passed the very first confiscation act. this targeted the institutions of slavery. It was made to take away land from people who were supporting the Confederate side. When this law was passed any slave that escaped could be free from their owners. Lincoln signed this into law and this was the first step in the right direction to abolish slavery. -
The Joint Resolution Submitted to Congress
Today was the day that Lincoln proposed a new idea. The Joint Resolution proclamation draft was submitted to Congress on this day. This was put in so that we could take one more step to abolishing slavery. Today was just the first day that it was proposed. -
The Draft of the Emancipation Proclomation
In Lincoln's attempts to figure out how to create peace in the country, he had the idea of the Emancipation Proclamation. This took him many long hours to think how could he get this to sound the best. He had official thoughts of doing this in 1861 but hadn't started due to the backlash of the people. When he finally started it had been presented to his cabinet and revised from there. This created a document that he could pose to Congress which he did on this day. -
The preliminary Emancipation Proclimation
This set the stage for the final draft that was about to come ahead. This date marks a significant turning in the Civil War. This served as a call to action for the people. This urged the Confederate states to come back to the Union. This was Lincoln's attempt to regain the states. -
The Emancipation Proclamation Signed into Law
Lincoln has been working hard to create a finalized version of the Emancipation Proclamation. On this day the law was signed into law. This granted the slaves the right to be freed. This did not let them go right away but made sure that they would be at some point with the 13th Amendment ratification at later dates. -
The Battles of July
July was a full month of battles ending. The Union gained victories in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and Vicksburg Mississippi. These were major victories that changed the outcome of the war. This put the Union back on top to win the war. The battles were big battles and many lives were lost all for the civil rights of African Americans. -
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address was one of the most renowned speeches given in American history. In this speech, Lincoln highlights national unity and equality for all. In this, he also paid tribute to all of the fallen soldiers whose lives were lost in Gettysburg. He makes a statement that the civil war was a test of the democracy of the nation and to ensure for the people by the people. -
Joint Resolution Passes
The day that the House passed this act was another step toward freeing the slaves in southern states. There was a vote that went up in the house on this date and many were nervous if this would pass. We were racing against the clock here with the war still afloat. The union was pushing back as much as they could. With this act signed in we could finally show how strong the union was. This kept leading to tension in the South as many of the Southern leaders did not want to give up their slaves. -
Re-Election of Lincoln
During Lincoln's first term, he faced severe division of the nation and was in the middle of fighting the Civil War. He won with 212 to 21 with 55% popular vote. with the winning of re-election, he could keep all of the policies in place and keep striving for peace in the union. With his election, the confederates knew that it was over and the war was ending. Lincoln being in office meant that the 13th amendment would be passed and slaves in all states would be free. -
Proposal of the 13th Amendment
Congress knew that it was time for the United States to make a change. After passing the Joint Resolution Act this started to inflict the need for a constitutional amendment. Slavery had gone on too long and no law would make it stop unless they made an amendment. This amendment was put through the ringer trying to get its final votes through the branches. It took intense support in the house to get it to pass. With a vote of 119 to 56 the amendment moved out of the House and onto the states. -
Lincoln approved Joint Resolution
This was finally passed into law after a long process of going through the government. This runs with the 13th amendment because both of them were put into place to abolish slavery. With these amendments the slaves were finally able to face freedom. -
The Meeting of the Generals
The Generals knew that something had to come to an end. The Americans were dying and so was our nation. It was time to finally come together and end the war. Robert E Lee and Ulysses S Grant met at the courthouse in Virginia and decided that they were effectively ending the war. It was finally over. -
Lincoln's Final Speech
The speech that Lincoln gave was his last. His main goals that he wanted to accomplish were to create peacetime and the future of the country. He was striving to reunite the American people after getting out of the civil war. This speech was the main way he wanted to start his presidency but little that he know he would be assassinated in the later days. -
Lincoln's Assasination
President Lincoln was enjoying an evening out at Ford Theater. As he was watching the film there was trouble brewing outside. John Wilkes Booth came into the theater leaving Lincoln with a bullet wound that would kill him the very next day. -
The Ratification of the 13th Amendment
After nearly a year since this amendment was brought to the table, it was finally ratified and placed into the constitution. This was the final act to abolish slavery. The rights of freedom to African Americans were finally met.