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Battle of Fort Sumpter
Early on the morning of April 12, 1861, Confederate guns around the harbor opened fire on Fort Sumter. On April 13th, Major Robert Anderson, garrison commander, surrendered the fort and it was evacuated the next day. With the firing on Fort Sumter, the American Civil War was officially started. -
Battle of Shiloh
At daybreak on Sunday, April 6, three corps of Confederate troops commanded by Confederate Generals Johnson and Beauregard swept into the southernmost Federal camps commanded by Union Generals Grant and Sherman. Intense fighting swirled around Shiloh Church. Sherman's men slowly lost ground and fell back. General Johnston was shot behind the right knee and bled to death.
Grant counterattacked at 6:00 a.m. on April 7. The Confederates retreated that afternoon, ending the battle. -
Battle of Antietam
The Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George McClellan, clashed with Gen. Robert E. Lee’s forces along Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland from September 17-19, 1862. The Union nearly routed Lee’s army but Confederate reinforcements helped to drive the Union back. Fighting occurred on the 18th and 19th before Lee retreated back into Virginia. The Confederate retreat gave President Abraham Lincoln the “victory” he desired before issuing the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. -
Freedmen's Bureau Bill
The Freedmen’s Bureau, also known as the Bureau of Refugees, was established in 1865 by Congress to help millions of former black slaves and poor whites in the South in the aftermath of the Civil War. It provided food, housing and medical aid, established schools and offered legal assistance. It also attempted to settle former slaves on land confiscated or abandoned during the war. -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
On the evening of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer, assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. The attack came only five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War. -
14th Amendment Ratified
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States—including former slaves—and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws.” One of three amendments passed during the Reconstruction era to abolish slavery and establish civil and legal rights for black Americans, it would become the basis for many landmark Supreme Court decisions over the years. -
Sinking of the USS Maine
An explosion of unknown origin sank the battleship U.S.S. Maine in the Havana, Cuba harbor, killing 266 of the 354 crew members. The sinking of the Maine incited United States' passions against Spain, eventually leading to a naval blockade of Cuba and a declaration of war. -
Annexation of Hawaii
Early 1893, American businessmen staged a coup in Hawaii. Queen Liliuokalani was forced to abdicate, and was replaced by Samuel Dole. At the time, Grover Cleveland was President. He disapproved and aimed to restore the Hawaiian monarchy, against American public sentiment. When the Spanish-American war broke out in 1898, the military significance of Hawaiian naval bases made annexation more favorable, so president William McKinley signed a joint resolution annexing the islands. -
Treaty of Paris
Treaty that need the Spanish-American war. In it, Spain renounced all claim to Cuba, ceded Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States, and transferred sovereignty over the Philippines to the United States for $20 million. -
19th Amendment Ratified
The 19th Amendment was certified by U.S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby, and women finally achieved the right to vote throughout the United States. On November 2, 1920, more than 8 million women across the U.S. voted in elections for the first time. It took over 60 years for the remaining 12 states to ratify the 19th Amendment. Mississippi was the last to do so, on March 22, 1984.
