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Jefferson Davis announced that he was in favor of secession from the Union for the first time.
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Southern delegates hold a National Democratic convention in Richmond, VA.
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A Democratic Convention was held in Richmond, VA. They chose John C. Breckinridge as their nominee for President there.
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Abraham Lincoln of Illinois wins the 1860 Presidential Election by obtaining 180 electoral votes. Lincoln won 39% of the popular vote and would become Chief of Party for the Republicans.
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James Chesnut was the first Southerner to resign from Senate on November 10, 1860.
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After many secession debates, Robert Toombs announced the resignation from the US Senate at the end of his term.
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South Carolina was the first state to formally seceed from the Union. They did not agree with the beliefs of the Union and disliked the fact that Abraham Lincoln was elected President.
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Edwin Stanton becomes Attorney-General in the Buchanan Administration on December 20, 1860.
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On December 23, 1860, James Buchanan requested the resignation of Secretary of War, John Floyd.
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John Floyd resigned from Secretary of War for misdirecting funds to contractors and guns to the South.
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Mississippi was not happy with the election of Lincoln and seceded from the Union.
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The people in Florida did not want their Southern lifestyles being changed, so they seceded from the Union.
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Alabama did not want their southern lfiestyle to be changed, so they seceded from the Union.
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Georgia joined fellow southern states and seceeded from the Union in 1861.
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Louisiana was afraid that the North would try and control their lifestyle. They did not have the same political views as the North, so they seceded from the Union.
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Texas joined it's fellow southern states in the fight for their freedoms by seceding from the Union.
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The Confederate States of America are formed with Jefferson Davis, a West Point graduate, as President.
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Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President for the first time.
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Virginia joined the fight for southern liberties and seceded from the Union in 1861.
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Arkansas joined it's neighboring states and seceded from the Union in 1861.
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The citizens of North Carolina did not want to have their lifestyle taken away because of the North. They seceded from the Union in 1861.
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Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1861. Like in many other states, the people of Tennessee did not want their southern life style taken away from them.
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The battle in Kentucky was one of the Union's first significant victories of the Civil War.
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General Grant and his men won the battle at Fort Henry, and gained a great advantage over the Confederacy. They took Fort Henry which was on the Tennessee River.
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The Confederate Fort Donelson was captured by Union General Grant and his army.
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President Lincoln's twelve year old son, Willie, passed away from fever caused by drinking polluted water.
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General Grant defeated General Jonhston during the two day battle at a small church named Shiloh in Tennessee.
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Conscription (enrollment for military services) is adopted in the Confederacy.
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Jefferson Davis replaces wounded Army of Northern Virginia commander Joseph E. Johnston with Robert E. Lee.
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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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Stonewall Jackson and James Longstreet lead the Confederate Army to victory once again at Bull Run.
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The Union Army defearted the Confederacy at Antietam, Maryland. It was one of the bloodiest battles ever in American history.
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Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, which declares that slaves in the seceded states are now free.
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On March 3, 1863, President Lincoln signed a federal draft act.
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General Lee won the battle of Chancellorsville, but suffered another great loss there. During the battle, Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot by a fellow Confederate soldier.
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After accidentally being shot during the Battle of Chancellorsville, Stonewall Jackson developped pneumonia. He died on May 10, 1863.
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The Battle of Gettysburg was fought. This battle is known as the turning point of the war for the Union soldiers. General Lee was forced to retreat across the Potomac.
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The Confederates surrender Vicksburg to Ulysses S. Grant, securing the Mississippi River for the Union.
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Many vicious riots took place in New York City in protest of the draft.
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The Confederates were victorious at the battle of Chickamauga, Georgia. General Braxton Bragg led the Confederates to the victory.
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Lincoln delivered his famous speech, The Gettysburg Address. In the speech he reiterates that all men are created equal.
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The Union had another victory at Chattanooga, Tennessee. This opened the path for the Union troops into the heart of the Confederacy.
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Ulysses S. Grant is ranked as lieutenant general and given official authority to command all of the armies of the United States.
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The Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia is the first of a bloody series of month-long engagements between Generals Grant and Lee.
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The Battle of Cold Harbor leads to a great loss of Union soldiers.
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The Confederates were victorious at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain in Georgia. The Union suffered high casualties.
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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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The Union victory at Cedar Creek ends the Confederate threat in the Shenandoah Valley.
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Lincoln is reelected President, with Andrew Johnson as Vice President.
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General George Henry Thomas wins the Battle of Nashville for the Union.
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Savannah falls to Sherman’s army without resistance. Sherman gives the city to Lincoln as a Christmas present.
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Union victory in North Carolina that finally isolated Wilmington, the last southern port capable of helping Lee’s army.
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Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolishes slavery throughout the United States.
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Sherman’s army capture Columbia, the state capital of South Carolina.
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Lincoln is inaugurated as President for a second term.
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The Union troops were victorious at the Battle of Kinston in North Carolina. The Confederates suffered a greater loss than the Union Army.
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Union troops finally occupy Richmond, the Confederate Capital.
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John Wilkes Booth shoots President Lincoln at Ford’s Theater. Secretary of State William H. Seward is stabbed and wounded in an assassination attempt in his own home.
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Lincoln dies, and Andrew Johnson is inaugurated as President.
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Jefferson Davis is captured and taken prisoner near Irwinville, Georgia.
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Eight of the conspirators are convicted for the assassination of President Lincoln. Four of them are sentenced to death.
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Texas repeals the actions of the Secessionist Convention on March 15, 1866.
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President Johnson vetos the Civil Rights Act of 1866 stating 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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Congress overrides President Andrew Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Act after he ruled it was unconstitutional.
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Thirty ninth Congress approves the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
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Connecticut approves the 14th Amendment on June 25, 1866.
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New Hampshire ratifies the 14th Amendment on July 6th, 1866.
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Congress overrides Andrew Johnson's veto of the Freedman's Bureau bill.
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Tennessee ratifies the 14th Amendment. This quick ratification meant Tennessee would not suffer under 2nd Reconstruction.
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Congress creates the rank of Admiral. David Farragut is appointed to that rank.
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Ohio ratifies the 14th Amendment on January 4th, 1867.
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Kentcucky becomes one of the first states to reject the 14th Amendment.
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African Americans in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto.
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Virginia rejects the 14th Amendment like Kentucky recently did.
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New York joins many other states and ratifies the 14th Amendment.
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Kansas ratifies the 14th Amendment.
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Pennsylvania ratifies the 14th Amendment joining other states like New York.
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Illinois ratifies the 14th Amendment like Pennsylvania and New York.
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West Virginia ratifies the 14th Amendment like Illinois, PA and NY.
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Michigan ratifies the 14th Amendment like West Virgina, Illionois and Pennsylvania.
