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Abolitionist John Brown attempts to start a slave rebellion by taking over the Harpers Ferry arsenal. The uprising is quickly put down and John Brown is hanged for treason. Many people in the North, however, consider him a hero.
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Abraham Lincoln was from the northern part of the country and wanted to put an end to slavery. The southern states didn't want him president or making laws that would affect them.
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South Carolina became the first state to secede, or leave, the United States. They decided to make their own country rather than be part of the USA. Within a few months several other states including Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana would also leave the Union.
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within a short period of time Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas all leave the Union to join the Confederacy.
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The southern states form their own country called the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis is their president.
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Now that President Lincoln is in office, he wants to restore the Union. In other words, get all the states back into the same country.
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The South attacks Fort Sumter South Carolina and starts the war.
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Abraham Lincoln announces the Union Blockade where the Union Navy will attempt to keep supplies from entering or leaving the Confederacy. This blockade will weaken the Confederacy later in the war.
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Throughout 1861 and 1862 there were many battles where lots of soldiers from both sides were wounded and killed. Some of the major battles include the First and Second Battles of Bull Run, The Battle of Shiloh, The Battle of Antietam, and the Battle of Fredericksburg. There was also the famous sea battle between the two ironclad battleships the Monitor and the Merrimac. These ships had iron or steel plates on their sides for armor making them much stronger and changing war on the seas forever.
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President Lincoln issues an executive order freeing many slaves and laying the groundwork for the Thirteenth Amendment.
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A major battle where the North not only wins the battle, but starts to win the Civil War.
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General Sherman captures the city of Atlanta, Georgia. Later in the year he would march to the sea and capture Savannah, Ga. On his way he would destroy and burn much of the land his army passed through.
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General Lee, the leader of the Confederate Army, surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant at The Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
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While attending the Ford's Theatre, President Lincoln is shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth.
