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The Louisiana State Seminary of Higher Learning is established at Pineville. William Tecumseh Sherman is Superintendent. It later becomes LSU.
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Jefferson Davis comes out in favor of secession for the first time.
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After being photographed by Matthew Brady, Abraham Lincoln speaks at the Cooper Institute in New York City.
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Classes began at the Seminary of Higher Learning at Pineville.
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The Constitution Union Party meets in Baltimore. They create a platform heavily taken from the U.S. Constitution and selects John Bell of Tennessee for president and Edward Everett of Massachusettes for Vice President. It represents southern Whigs and Know-Nothings. Sometimes called the Bell-Union Party.
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Republican Convention is held in Chicago, Illinois. William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Abraham Lincoln of Illinois are the leading contenders from a field of 12 candidates. Lincoln wins the 3rd ballot. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine is chosen for Vice President.
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The Democratic National Convention meets in Baltimore. They nominate Stephen Douglas and Herschal V.Johnson.
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Southern Democrats hold a convention in Richmond. There they select John C. Breckinridge as their nominee for president.
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Abraham Lincoln of Illinois wins at the 1860 Presidential Election by obtaining 180 electoral Votes. Lincoln won 39% of the popular vote and would become Cheif of Party for the Republicans.
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South Carolina is the first state to secede from the Union.
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Mississippi secedes from the Union.
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Star of the West, an unarmed merchant vessel secretly carrying federal troops and supplies to Fort Sumter, is fired upon by South Carolina artillery at the entrance to Charleston harbor.
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Florida secedes from the Union.
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Alabama secedes from the Union.
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Georgia secedes from the Union.
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Louisiana secedes from the Union.
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Kansas is admitted as a state with a constitution prohibiting slavery.
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Texas secedes from the Union.
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The Confederate States of America is formed with Jefferson Davis as president.
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Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States.
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From April 12 to the 13th Fort Sumter is bombarded and surrenders to South Carolina troops lead by P. G. T. Beauregard.
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Virginia secedes from the Union.
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Arkansas secedes from the Union.
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North Carolina secedes from the Union.
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Tennessee secedes from the Union.
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General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Henry, Tennessee. Ten days later he accepts the "unconditional and immeadiate surrender" of Fort Donelson. These Victories open up the state of Tennessee for Union advancement.
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The ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia battle to a draw at Hampton Roads, Virginia, demonstrating the superior potential of vessels made of steel.
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On the peninsula southeast of Richmond, McClellan leads the Army of the Potomac toward Yorktown, Virginia, beginning the Peninsular Campaign.
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Conscription is adopted in the Confederacy.
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Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley campaign begins successfully with a victory at the Battle of McDowell in Virginia.
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From May 31st to June 1st, during the Battle of Seven Pines in Virginia, Robert E. Lee takes over command of the Confederate army from the wounded Joseph Johnston.
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Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune publishes The Prayer of Twenty Millions, a plea for Lincoln to liberate slaves in the Union.
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The battle of Atietam, Maryland, extracts heavy losses on both the Union side and the Confederate side.
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General McClellan recieves Lincoln's order relieving him of command of the Army of the Potomac.
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Lee wins the battle of Fredricksburg decisively.
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President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that slaves in the seceding states are now free.
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Lincoln signs a federal draft act.
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In a test of ironclad vessels against land fortifications, Union Admiral Samuel F. DuPont's fleet fails to penetrate the harbor defenses of Charleston.
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Confederate calvary under Jeb Stuart clash with the Union mounts of Alfred Pleasanton in an all day battle at Brandy Station, VA. Some 18,000 troopers- approximately 9,000 on either side- take part, making this the largest calvary battle on American soil. In the end, Staurt will hold the field.
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The Battle of Gettysburg took place from July 1st through July 3rd. This 3 day battle was fought in Pennslyvania. General George G. Meade compromises his victory by allowing Lee to retreat south across the Potomac.
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Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg surrenders after a siege.
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Violent riots erupt in New York City in protest of the Draft
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Confederates under General Braxton Bragg win a great tactical victory at Chickamauga, GA. Union General George H. Thomas wins the nickname "Rock of Chickamauga" for his stubborn defense position.
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Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address, in which he reiterates the nation's fundamental principle that all men are created equal.
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After 3 days of battle, the Union victory at Chattanooga, Tennessee opens the way for Union advancement into the heart of the Confederacy.
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Newly commissioned to the rank of lieutenant general, Ulysses S. Grant is given official authority to command all of the armies of the United States.
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The USS Kearsarge sinks the CSS Alabama of Cherbourg, France, where the Confederate raider was bound for refitting.
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Lincoln signs a bill repealing the fugitive slave laws.
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Union Admiral David G. Farragut wins the battle of Mobile Bay.
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After forcing the Confederate Army of John Bell Hood out of Atlanta, Georgia, General William T. Sherman captures the city. This is a major munitions center for the South.
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A Union victory at Cedar Creek ends the Confederate threat in the Shenandoah Valley.
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Lincoln is reelected as President, with Andrew Johnson as Vice President.
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Sherman leaves Atlanta and begins his "march to the sea", in an attempt to demoralize the south and hasten surrender.
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General George Henry Thomas wins the Battle of Nashville, decimating John Bell Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee.
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Savannah falls to Sherman's army without resistance. Sherman gives the city to Lincoln as a birthday present.
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Congress passes the 13th Amendment, which abolishes slavery throughout the United States.
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Columbia, South Carolina, is almost completely destroyed by fire, most likely set by Sherman's troops.
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Lincoln is inaugurated as President for a second term.
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The Appomattox campaign begins, with Grant's move against Lee's defenses at Petersburg,VA.
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Petersburg falls, and the Confederate government evacuates its capitol, Richmond. Confederate corps commander Ambrose Powell Hill is killed in action while attempting to rally his men.
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Union troops occupy Richmond.
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Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern VA to Grant at Appottomax.
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John Wilkes Booth shoots President Lincoln at Ford's Theater.
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Abraham Lincoln dies. Andrew Johnson is inaugurated as President.
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All eight conspirators are convicted for the assassination of President Lincoln; four were sentenced to death.
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New Freedman's Boreau bill passed by Congress. President Andrew Johnson vetoes the bill that authorized military trial for those accused of "depriving Negroes of the Civil Rights" on the same day.
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Texas repeals the actions of the Secessionist Convention.
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President Johnson vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1866 on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.
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The United States declares that a state of peace exists with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
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Ohio ratifies the 14th Amendment.
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Nebraska Ratifies the 14th Amendment.
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Congress passes a bill admitting Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina into the Union.
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Russia turns over Alaska to the United States.
