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Lincoln elected President of the United States.
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South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the Union.
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The Confederate States of America is formed and Jefferson Davis is elected president.
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Abram Lincoln is sworn in as the nation's 16th president.
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Confederate troops attack government soldiers at Fort Sumter, South Carolina.
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President Lincoln calls for 75,000 army volunteers.
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Virginia secedes from the Union.
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President Lincoln orders a naval blockade of all Confederate ports.
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Arkansas and Tennessee secede from the Union.
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North Carolina secedes from the Union.
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Confederate army defeats the Union army at the First Battle of Bull Run in Virginia.
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Confederates win Battle of Wilson's Creek, the first major battle fought west of the Mississippi River.
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General Ulysses S. Grant captures a Confederate army at Fort Donelson, Tennessee, the first major Union victory of the war.
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The ironclad ships USS Monitor and CSS Virginia battle ending in a draw. Casualties total 26,000 in the Battle of Antietam. Lee's invasion of the North ends in retreat.
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President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. This document eventually frees all slaves.
