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Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin is an abolitionist novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. The novel talks about this man named Tom, who was a slave, that saved the life of a girl named Eva. Eva’s father then bought Tom and him and her became friends, unfortunately she got sick and died making Tom promise to free all the slaves. Tom was then sold to another man who whipped him to death. -
Fort Sumter
On April 12, 1861 General Beauregard bombed Fort Sumter after president Lincoln announced to resupply the fort. After 34 hours of shooting 86 soldiers and Anderson surrendered the fort and occupied it for four years surviving bombardements from the Union forces. Fort Sumter was restored by the U.S. military after the Civil War. -
First Battle of Bull Run
On July 21, 1861 35,000 Union troops marched to Washington, D.C. to strike a Confederate force of 20,000 near a river called Bull Run. After fighting for days the Confederate forces won and the Union realized that it wouldn’t be an easy war. This was the first event that lead to the Civil War. -
Battle of Ironclads
The Battle of Ironclads was the first naval battle between ironclad warship. This event happened on March 9, 1862 and it was between the U.S.S. Monitor and the Merrimack. The Confederacy wanted to break the Union blockade of southern ports. This war opened a new chapter for the naval warfare. -
Battle of Shiloh
On April 6 and 7, 1862 the Confederate Army launched a surprise attack on Union forces that were lead by General Ulysses S. Grant in the south part in Tennessee. After winning a few times the Confederates were forced back. The Union won because of it, but it caused a lot of people to lose their lives. -
The Seven Days Battles
The Seven Days Battles are battles that lasted from June 25 till July 1, 1862. a Confederate army leaded by General Robert Lee drove back General George McClellan’s Union forces and attempt to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond. -
Battle of Antietam
September 17, 1862 is remembered as the deadliest one day battle of all America military history. At Antietam Creek near Maryland General Robert Lee’s Army was fighting against Union General George McClellan’s Army. This was also an attempt of General Lee to invade the north. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
On December 13, 1862 Ambrose Burnside, commander of the army of Potomac, ordered his troops to cross the Rappahannock river and attack the army of Northern Virginia which commander was Robert Lee. The battle took place at Fredericksburg and sent Union moral plummeting. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation in order to free all the slaves on January 1, 1863. This document didn’t affect every state and didn’t free all the slaves, but it made possible that the people that once were enslaved to become part of the military and help with the war. This event added moral force to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically. -
New York City draft riots
The New York City draft riots took place on July 1863. These riots started when the New Yorkers anger of working-class took over a new federal draft law during the Civil War. These are remembered as the bloodiest riots in U.S. history. Hundreds of people were killed and many were seriously injured. African Americans were often the target of the rioters’ violence. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville took place from April 30 to May 6, 1863. This battle is also known for for being the battle in which General Thomas Jackson was mortally wounded. General Robert Lee decided to split his army in two and fight against the Union’s army who was double the size of his. But by doing this he won the battle and was remembered as General’s Lee most tactical victory. -
Siege of Vicksburg
The Siege of Vicksburg took place on May 18 to July 4, 1863. The Union took the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg which is located in Mississippi. On the east side of the stronghold there was the Mississippi River and it was critical supply line that the Union took advantage of because of their Anaconda Plan. When the Union won it cemented the reputation of General Ulysses. -
Battle of Gettysburg
On July 1 to July 3, 1863, General Robert Lee marched his troops to Northern Virginia but they encountered General George Meade and his troops. The Confederates then attacked the Federants and after the assault also known as “Pickett’s Charge”, General Lee was forced to leave and head to Virginia. The Union had won multiple times, this stopped General’s Lee intention to invade the North. -
Gettysburg Address
President Lincoln delivered a speech on November 19, 1863, at the ceremony for the National Cemetery of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania near were one of the bloodiest battles took place. It is remembered as one of the most important speeches in American History. President Lincoln talked about the principles of human equality which are located in the Declaration of Independence, he also compared the sacrifices of the Civil War with the desire for “a new birth of freedom”. -
Overland Campaign
The Overland Campaign took place on May 4 to June 24, 1864 President Lincoln gave control of all the Union’s forces to General Grant. He attacked General Lee’s forces in the woods of Fredericksburg. General Lee anticipated General Grant’s next move so he went to the Spotsylvania Courthouse and fought against the Union again. -
The Battles of Cold Harbor
The two Battles of Cold Harbor took place between May 31 and June 12, 1864. They took place 10 miles northeast of Richmond, Virginia. The first Battle was part of the Peninsula campaign and it resulted as a Union defeat and were forced to abandon Richmond. In the second Battle General Lee won again against the Union, which was one of the most lopsided engagements of the war. -
The Battle of Petersburg
The Battle of Petersburg took place on June 15, 1864 to April 2, 1865. The Battle was fought around the cities of Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia. After the unsuccessful attack in Petersburg by General Grant, he constructed trenches around the eastern portion of Richmond to the outer parts of Petersburg. General Lee finally abandoned the city in 1865 and retreated. The Battle of Petersburg is also known as an early example of trench warfare, which would then be used in World War I. -
Reconstruction Era
Between 1865 and 1877 people tried to reintegrate Southern States into the United States. President Johnson passed restrictive “Black Codes” to control the behavior of enslaved people and some African Americans, this led to the triumph of the Republican Party. In the Reconstruction act in 1867, for the first time African Americans gained voice in the government, unfortunately they lost this power after the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was created. -
Appomattox
There was a village in Virginia called Appomatox county in the 19th century. It was the place that was associeted with the final battle of the Civil War. Confederate General Robert Lee’s surrender of his army to the Union General Ulysses Grant, on April 9, 1865, and it was called the Appomattox court house. -
Lincoln assassination
On the evening of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth fired his pistol into President’s Lincoln head while they were attending Laura Keene’s performance at the Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. He then jumped on the stage shouting the Virginia state motto. A doctor named Charles Leale tried to save the President but then he died during the night on his bed.
