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John Brown's Raid on Harper Ferry
White abolitionist John Brown attempted to start an armed slave revolt by seizing the United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry in 1859. His raid was defeated by a detachment of U.S. Marine Corps led by Colonel Robert E. Lee. His attempt at starting an armed slave revolt signifies a lead to the Civil War for it angered Southerners who believed in slavery and intensified their reason to fight. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected 16th President of the United States
Abrahama Lincon recieved only 40 percent of the popular vote, but won due to his electoral college votes. He became president to a deeply divided Deomcratic Party and a tense nation on the verge of splitting up. The signifance of him becoming president is that he was the first Republican to win the presidency and increased tensions between the North and the South. -
South Carolina Secedes From the Union
Abraham Lincoln winning the presidential election of 1860 served as the final straw for South Carolina. After dealing with what it considered unfair taxation on the South and now Lincoln becoming president, it ceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America. The significance of South Carolina ceding is that it served as one of the final plunges into the Civil War. -
Firing at Fort Sumter
After seven states had left the Union after the election of 1860, President Lincoln proclaimed that Fort Sumter would be one of two federal posts the Union would hold onto. On April 10, 1861, Confederate General Beauregaurd thought otherwise and demanded the evacuation of the Union troops stationed there. The troops refused and General Beauregaurd attacked the fort on April 12. In the aftermath, President Lincoln demanded the rebellion to be put down which only caused more states to secede. -
Battle of Bull Run
On July 16, 1861, the Union army under General Irvin McDowell marched from Washington towards Confederate forces located in Bull Run. On the 21st, McDowell crossed the Sudley Ford and attacked Confederate forces to the left of Matthews Hill. As fighting ravaged throughout the day, the Confederacy managed a win signifying the war wasn't going to be a quicky and easy victory for the North. -
Clash with England
Two Confederate ships sailing towards England were seized by the Union on this date. England then issued a proclamation stating that if the Union did not release the ships, England would take it as a request for war, and would wage war. The Union released the ships and President Lincoln then determined the Union would have to take the war "one battle at a time". This event signifies the desparation of the Union yearning to win the war. -
Ulyssess S. Grant's Victories for the Union
Gaining a small victory for the North, General Ulyssess S. Grant and his troops seized a small fort in Tennessee, Fort Henry. Ten days later, they seized Fort Donelson in Tennessee as well. This signified small, yet important, victories for the Union in order to win the war. -
Monitor and Merrimack Battle
The two ironclad ships known as the Monitor, belonging to the Union, and the Merrimack, belonging to the Confederacy, waged a brawl on one another at sea on March 9, 1862. They battled in a portion of the Chesapeake Bay known as the Hampton Roads for five hours. This signified the first ever battle between two ironclad ships. -
Battle of Antietam
The first major battle of the war fought on U.S. soil took place on September 17, 1862, between Union General George B. McLellan and Confederate General Robert E. Lee. On the 16th, McLellan launched an attak on Confederate forces with another attack launched by Union General Joseph Hooker and his troops on the 17th. Attacks and counterattacks between the two continued throughout the day, but the Union seized the win. It signified the single deadliest battle ever fought by an American army. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
After Robert E. Lee strategically placed his troops in trenches on the outskirts of Fredericksburg where the Union troops were located, fighting broke out between the Union army and the Confederate army the next day and leading into the 13th. A series of futile assualuts occurred on Prospect Hill and Marye's Heights continuing on into the 15th until Burnside called off the offense. This signified the end of the campaign against the Confederate Capitol of Richmond. -
Emancipation Proclamation
To ring in the new year in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It deemed all slaves in the South were now free, but it did not include the border states. The proclamation was unsuccessful as well for the South had it's own government and didn't need to do as the Union said. This event signifies the war shifting from the Union fighting to preserve the Union to abolishing slavery. -
Battle of Vicksburg
As of May and June of 1863, Union General Ulyssess S. Grant and his troops had entrapped the Confederate army under Lieutenant General John Pemberson. After prolongned seiges on July 4, Pemberson surrendered and with the loss of Pemberson and his troops the Confederate army was split in half. This signfies the Union's seziure of Mississippi and the all-important Mississippi River. -
Battle of Gettysburg
With his army distributed amongst Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Confederate General Robert E. Lee was able to drive the Union back to Cemetery Hill as fighting broke out on July 1st. Only July 3rd, however, the Union regained ground in fighting at Culp's Hill and came through with a win after Picekett's Charge. This signified a major turning point in the war and the beginning of South's loss of the war. -
Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
On this date President Abraham Lincoln announced his 10 percent plan-his plan for reconstructing the United States of America. Announced before the war's end, Lincoln stated that only 10% of each Southern states' voters would have to pledge to be loyal to the Union again and then that state would be re-instated into the Union. This signified Lincoln's determination to end the war and re-instate the South into the Union. -
Wade-Davis Bill is Issued
Put forth by Senator Benjamin Wade and Representative Henry Winter Davis, this bill was contrary to Lincoln's plan. It required that 50% of the South's voting population take an oath that they never supported the Confederacy in order to be re-instated into the Union. This bill was passed by Congress, but later vetoed by Lincoln. This signifies the differing views in reconstructing the United States of America. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
Up until December 21, 1864 Union General William T. Sherman marched his troops from Atlanta, Georgia to Savannah, Georgia. Burning his way there, he destroyed towns, cities, farms, fields, anything in his way. This signifies the frustration of the war. -
Surrender at Appomatox Court House
Confederate General Robert E. Lee headed west ending up at the Appomatox Court House on April 8, 1865. He and his troops then headed towards the South Side Railroad where food supplies awaited, but were cut off again and almost surrounded by Union forces in the small village. After a desperate attempt at escapaing, they were trapped. Lee surrendered his remaining troops to General Grant at the McLean House on the afternoon of April 9, 1865. This signified the end of the Civil War. -
Lincoln is Assasinated at Ford Theater
Shortly after the war ended, Lincoln attended a play with his wife at Ford Theater. During the show, actor John Wilkes Booth sneaked behind him and put a bullet through his head. He was rushed to a hospital in which he never regained consciousness. His death signified Andrew Johnson becoming president and developing his own reconstruction plan. -
Passing of the Fourteenth Amendment
On this date the fourteenth amendment, which gave all citizens of the United States their neccessary rights and protections, was passed on this date and later ratified in 1868. The Civil Rights Act and the Freedman's Bureau were condensed into the amendment, and had to be ratified by all Southern states in order to be reinstated into the Union. This signified giving blacks the neccessary basic rights they needed and deserved. -
Southern States Allowed to be Reinstated into the Union
As expected, several of the Southern states did not choose to accept nor ratify the fourteenth amendment and therefore were not reinstated into the Union. Little by little, these states accepted it with North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Arkansas re-instated into the Union first, with Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Virginia following suit and being re-admitted in 1870. This signified the successful re-instation of Southern states into the Union.