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Abraham Lincoln Elected President
November 6, 1860 - Abraham Lincoln, who had declared "Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free..." is elected president, the first Republican, receiving 180 of 303 possible electoral votes and 40 percent of the popular vote. -
The Crittenden Compromise
it was a series of compromises in 1860 - 61 that intended to prevent the American Civil War. Sen. John J. Crittenden proposed constitutional amendments that would reenact provisions of the Missouri Compromise and extend them to the western territories, compensate owners of fugitive slaves whose return was prevented by antislavery elements in the North, allow a form of popular sovereignty in the territories, and protect slavery in the District of Columbia. The plan was rejected by president-elect -
South Carolina Secedes
in December 1860, South Carolina issued a secession, repealing ratification of constitution and amendments. It also created a declaration of causes of secession, stating that the government has violated constitution, infringed on state powers and came back to the compact theory: we opted in, we may opt out as well. -
Fort Sumter Attacked
At 4:30 a.m. Confederates under Gen. Pierre Beauregard open fire with 50 cannons upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War begins. -
President Lincoln declares war
President Lincoln issues a Proclamation calling for 75,000 militiamen, and summoning a special session of Congress for July 4. -
Virginia Secedes from the Union
Virginia secedes from the Union, followed within five weeks by Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, thus forming an eleven state Confederacy with a population of 9 million, including nearly 4 million slaves. The Union will soon have 21 states and a population of over 20 million. -
Battle of Bull run
The Union Army under Gen. Irvin McDowell suffers a defeat at Bull Run 25 miles southwest of Washington. Confederate Gen. Thomas J. Jackson earns the nickname "Stonewall," as his brigade resists Union attacks. Union troops fall back to Washington. President Lincoln realizes the war will be long. "It's damned bad," he comments. -
Battle of Shiloh
Confederate surprise attack on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's unprepared troops at Shiloh on the Tennessee River results in a bitter struggle with 13,000 Union killed and wounded and 10,000 Confederates, more men than in all previous American wars combined. The president is then pressured to relieve Grant but resists. "I can't spare this man; he fights," Lincoln says. -
Second Battle of Bullrun
75,000 Federals under Gen. John Pope are defeated by 55,000 Confederates under Gen. Stonewall Jackson and Gen. James Longstreet at the second battle of Bull Run in northern Virginia. Once again the Union Army retreats to Washington. The president then relieves Pope. -
Battle of Antietam
The bloodiest day in U.S. military history as Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan and numerically superior Union forces. By nightfall 26,000 men are dead, wounded, or missing. Lee then withdraws to Virginia. -
Battle if Fredericksburg
Army of the Potomac under Gen. Burnside suffers a costly defeat at Fredericksburg in Virginia with a loss of 12,653 men after 14 frontal assaults on well entrenched Rebels on Marye's Heights. "We might as well have tried to take hell," a Union soldier remarks. Confederate losses are 5,309. -
Emancipation Proclomation
President Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates and emphasizes the enlisting of black soldiers in the Union Army. The war to preserve the Union now becomes a revolutionary struggle for the abolition of slavery. -
Gettysburg
The tide of war turns against the South as the Confederates are defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.
Licoln later makes Gettysburg address -
Gettysburg address
Abraham Lincoln's carefully crafted address, secondary to other presentations that day, came to be regarded as one of the greatest speeches in American history -
Lee surrenders to Grant
Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Grant allows Rebel officers to keep their sidearms and permits soldiers to keep horses and mules. "After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources," Lee tells his troops. -
Lincoln assassinated
The Stars and Stripes is ceremoniously raised over Fort Sumter. That night, Lincoln and his wife Mary see the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater. At 10:13 p.m., during the third act of the play, John Wilkes Booth shoots the president in the head. Doctors attend to the president in the theater then move him to a house across the street. He never regains consciousness. -
13th Ammendment passes
Thirteenth Amendment approved in January. Ratified in December. Abolished slavery in the United States. -
Mississippi enacts Black Code.
The Mississippi Black Code is an example of the manner by which the southern states strove to maintain the old order while limiting the newly acquired rights of African Americans. Many people in the North as well as the Republicans in Congress were alarmed by the Black Codes. Reaction to the codes helped to radicalize Congress and catalyzed its attempt to seize control of Reconstruction from the President Andrew Johnson, ultimately leading to the president’s impeachment. -
Memphis Race Riot
White civilians and police kill 46 African Americans and destroy 90 houses, schools, and four churches in Memphis, Tennessee. -
Ku klux klan formed
A secret organization to intimidate African Americans and restore white rule is founded in Pulaski, Tennessee. -
Reconstruction Acts
Congress divides the former Confederacy into five military districts and requirs elections in which African American men can vote. -
President Johnson's Impeachment Trial
By one vote, the U.S. Senate fails to remove the president from office. -
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution approved by Congress.
The amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws, and was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War. The amendment was bitterly contested, particularly by Southern states, which were forced to ratify it in order for them to regain representation in the Congress. T -
First black senator elected.
Hiram Revels of Mississippi elected to U. S. Senate as the first black senator.
