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Secession declared illegal
Lincoln declared that succession was illegal and that he would hold federal forts in the South -
Fort Sumter
The attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina by Confederate forces started the civil war. -
South states withdraw from union
Virginia withdraws from the Union, followed by Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The Confederacy now made up of eleven states and the Union had 21 states. -
blockade against Southern ports
President Lincoln orders the blockade against Southern ports. This blockade limited the rural South's ability to remain well equipped during the war against the industrialized North. -
First Battle of Bull Run
The First Battle of Bull Run took place on July 21, 1861. This battle was the first major battle of the American Civil War. The battle saw 2,900 killed, wounded, captured, or missing for Union army and 2,000 for Confederates. When Confederate reinforcements arrived on the battlefield Confederates won the battle. The battle encouraged a sense of victory in the South. Alternatively, the loss resulted in the North wanting revenge. -
Antietam
The battle at Antietam was the bloodiest battle in America's military history. The Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by Union forces. A total of 26,000 men are dead, wounded, or missing. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates is issued by President Lincoln. The Proclamation emphasized the enlisting of black soldiers in the Union Army. The war to preserve the Union turned into a revolutionary movement to abolish slavery. -
Gettysburg
July 1-3, 1863 - Confederate soldiers came upon a Union brigade guarding the Town of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. The Confederates were defeated. The Battle of Gettysburg was the last time the Confederate army tried to bring about a significant battle on Union soil. -
Vicksburg
The last Confederate stronghold, Vicksburg, on the Mississippi River surrendered to the Union forces after a six week siege. As a result the Confederacy is effectively split in two, cut off from its western partners as the Union forces were in control of the Mississippi. -
Abraham Lincoln is re-elected president.
Abraham Lincoln is re-elected president. -
Freedman's Bureau
Congress establishes Freedmen's Bureau in March to provide assistance to the emancipated slaves. -
Lee surrenders
Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia. -
Lincoln Shot
The Stars and Stripes is raised over Fort Sumter. Lincoln and his wife Mary see the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater that same night. John Wilkes Booth shoots the president in the head at 10:13 p.m., during the third act of the play. -
Andrew Johnson becomes the President.
President Abraham Lincoln dies from his injuries. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes the President. -
slavery abolished
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, is ratified abolishing slavery. -
The 13th Amendment
The amendment states: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” -
Black Codes 1865-1866
These laws imposed severe restrictions on freed slaves such as prohibiting their right to vote, forbidding them to sit on juries, limiting their right to testify against white men, carrying weapons in public places and working in certain occupations. -
The 14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and slaves who had been emancipated after the American Civil War, including them under the umbrella phrase “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.” In all, the amendment comprises five sections, four of which began in 1866 as separate proposals that stalled in legislative process and were amalgamated into a single amendment. -
The 15th Amendment
This amendment granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." -
Civil Rights Act
Forty-fourth Congress. Six black members in the House of Representatives. 1875 Civil Rights Act enacted by Congress. It provides blacks with the right to equal treatment in public places and transportation. -
Jim Crow Laws 1876-77
Some examples of Jim Crow laws are the segregation of public schools, public places, and public transportation, and the segregation of restrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains for whites and blacks. The U.S. military was also segregated. These Jim Crow Laws followed the 1800–1866 Black Codes, which had previously restricted the civil rights and civil liberties of African Americans with no pretense of equality