-
Period: to
Civil War
Civil War -
Abe Lincoln speaks at Cooper Union
Lincoln delivered his famous speech at Cooper Union, explaining his position on slavery and wowing New Yorkers who were not so familiar with the Republican candidate from the Midwest. -
Pre-emption bill is passed
This gave squatters the right to buy westward land at a very cheap price. -
The Pony Express Begins
Mail between Sacramento, California and St. Joseph's, Missouri is carried over the Oregon Trail by a series of riders on horseback. Service no longer needed when the transcontinental telegraph is invented. -
Democrats divided
The democratic convention in Charleston SC divided over slavery -
Stonewall Jackson commands Harpers Ferry
Thomas Jonathan Jackson is assigned to command Harpers Ferry, the target of an assault by an armed group of abolitionists -
Abraham Lincoln selected as Republican candidate
The republican convention selects Abraham Lincoln as candidate -
Abraham Lincoln selected as Republican Candidate
The republican convention selects Abraham Lincoln as candidate -
South Carolina Secedes
South Carolina secedes from the Union. Paves the road for other states to follow. -
Anderson Moves to Fort Sumter
Major Robert Anderson gathers his small army at Fort Sumter -
Harriet Tubman arrives in Auburn, NY
Harriet Tubman arrives in Auburn New York, on her last mission to free slaves, having evaded capture for 8 years on the Underground Railroad -
Abraham Lincoln Becomes President
Abraham Lincoln officially becomes the 16th President of the United States of America -
The Confederate States of America is formed with Jefferson Davis.
West Point graduate and former U.S. Army officer, as president. -
Confederates under Gen. Pierre Beauregard open fire.
With 50 cannons upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. -
President Lincoln issues a Proclamation
Calling for 75,000 militiamen.Summoning a special session of Congress for July 4. -
President Lincoln issues a Proclamation
A proclamation of Blockade against Southern ports. During the war the blockade limits the ability of the South to stay well supplied in its war against the industrialized North. -
The Union Army suffers a defeat at Bull Run
Union troops fall back to Washington. President Lincoln realizes the war will be long. -
George B. McClellan as Commander of Potomac.
Replacing McDowell. -
President Lincoln revokes Gen. John C. Frémont's
Later relieves Gen. Frémont of his command and replaces him with Gen. David Hunter. -
McClellan as general-in-chief of all Union forces
After the resignation of the aged Winfield Scott. -
The beginning of a crisis for President Lincoln
two Confederate officials sailing toward England are seized by the U.S. Navy. England, the leading world power, demands their release, threatening war. -
President Lincoln son, Willie dies from fever
Probably caused by polluted drinking water in the White House. -
Victory For Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
Capturing Fort Henry, and ten days later Fort Donelson. Grant earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. -
The Confederate Ironclad 'Merrimac' sinks two wooden Union ships
Union ships then battle the Union Ironclad 'Monitor' to a draw. Naval warfare is changed forever, making wooden ships obsolete. -
Confederate surprise attack on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Troops
With 13,000 Union killed and wounded at Shiloh on the Tennessee River -
17 Union ships come up the Mississippi River
And take New Orleans. The South's greatest seaport. -
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Army attacks McClellan's troops
Nearly defeats them. But Johnston is badly wounded. -
75,000 Federals are defeated by 55,000 Confederate
Federals under Gen. John Pope. Confederates under Gen. Stonewall Jackson -
Lee goes to the North with 50,000 Confederates and heads for Harpers Ferry
Located 50 miles northwest of Washington. -
Battle of Antietam
The bloodiest day in U.S. military history. 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 at Fredericksburg
In Virginia with a loss of 12,653 men after 14 frontal assaults -
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. -
Gen. Grant is placed in command of the Army of the West
With orders to capture Vicksburg. -
The Union Army under Gen.
Hooker is decisively defeated by Lee's much smaller forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia as a result of Lee's brilliant and daring tactics. -
Stonewall Jackson dies from his wounds
His last words "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees." -
75,000 Confederates invade the north again.
Going to Pennsylvania in a campaign that will soon lead to Gettysburg. -
Battle of Gettysburg
In Pennsylvania. Confederates are defeated -
Vicksburg, the last Confederate on the Mississippi River, surrenders
To Gen. Grant and the Army of the West after a six week siege. -
The President pushing for equality in Negro troops.
Meets with abolitionist Frederick Douglass -
450 pro-slavery followers butcher 182 boys and men.
At Lawrence, Kansas -
President Lincoln delivers a two minute Gettysburg Address
At a ceremony dedicating the Battlefield as a National Cemetery. -
Grant Takes Command
Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant commander of all Union armies, ending his long search for a decent general to command northern forces -
Virginia Campaign
Ulysses S. Grant and 120,000 troops march south towards Richmond, the Confederate capital. Over the course of the next six weeks nearly 50,000 Union soldiers die. -
Battle of the Wilderness
During the horrific Battle of the Wilderness, thousands of men burn to death as the woods in which they were fighting catch fire. -
Battle of Spotsylvania
Grant attacks Robert E. Lee's Confederate forces at Spotsylvania. Grant loses more soldiers than Lee. Still, General Lee is forced to retreat south. -
Battle of Cold Harbor
The Battle of Cold Harbor is a disaster for the union. Grant makes a series of mistakes that leads to the death of 7,000 soldier in 20 minutes -
Siege of Petersburg
The Siege of Petersburg ended the previous mobile war and began a 9-moth siege -
Troops die in Train Crash
Troop train loaded with Confederate prisoners collided with a coal train killing 65 & injuring 109 of 955 aboard -
Lincoln looks for Reinforcments
President Lincoln request 500,000 volunteers to help fight the war -
Battle of Mobile Bay
Union Admiral David Farragut led his troops through the Confederate defenses at Mobile, Alabama, to seal one of the last major Southern ports. -
Burning of Atlanta
Union General William T. Sherman captures and burns Atlanta during US Civil War -
13th Amendment ends slavery
The United States Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which will abolish slavery. -
Lee take Command
General Robert E. Lee named Commander-in-Chief of Confederate Armies during US Civil War -
Columbia Up in Flames
Columbia, South Carolina burns down during the Civil War -
Lincoln's 2nd Inaugaration
Lincoln is sworn in for his second term as President of the United States. -
Richmond Falls
The Union Army captures Richmond, Virginia, which is nearly leveled by shelling and fire. -
Siege of Petersburg Ends
The Siege of Petersburg ends as Ulysses S. Grant's army breaks through Confederate lines and marches towards Richmond. -
Lincoln gets shot
Lincoln gets shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington -
SS Sultana explodes
Steamboat "SS Sultana" explodes in the Mississippi River, killing up to 1,800 of the 2,427 passengers, most of them Union POWs on their way home -
13th Amendment Ratified
The 13th Amendment is ratified by the United States. Outlawing slavery in its entirety -
KKK Founded
In Pulaski, Tennessee, a group of Confederate veterans convenes to form a secret society that they christen the Ku Klux Klan. -
The Liberator
The last issue of the Liberator (an abolitionist new paper) is published. The newspaper has now becomes unnecessary because the slaves have been freed. -
Memphis Riots
Beginning with an altercation between white policemen and black Union soldiers, everything erupts into violence. Black neighborhoods are ravaged as white civilians and police alike look for vengeance. Federal troops are able to end fighting on May 3rd. -
Winfield Scott's death
Winfield Scott dies at West Point. -
Fourteenth Amendment
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States [regardless of color]...are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." -
Tennessee readmitted
Following the Civil War Tennessee becomes the first state readmitted to the Union. -
General of The Army
Congress passes the legislation making General of the Army a rank. Ulysses S. Grant is the first to hold that title. -
New Orleans Race Riots
Starting with African Americans protesting outside a Louisiana Conventional Convention for better voting rights ended in a race riot. The conflict was started when Mayor Monroe organized a group of ex-Confederate soldiers to attack the protestors. -
Presidential Proclomation
Andrew Johnson wrote and signed this document after fighting in Texas had ceased. It assured the American public that civil order had been restored to America and that the United States was whole again. -
Douglass becomes First Black Delegate
Frederick Douglass becomes the first black delegate at a convention. His personal narrative also exposed Americans to the brutal practices of slavery. -
House of Representatives Election
The Republican Party wins in a landslide. This will make President Johnson's job harder as Congress is mostly composed of Radical Republicans who are at odds with the president regarding Reconstruction in the South. -
Black Voting Rights
In Washington D.C., Congress allows African American men to vote despite the veto from President Johnson. -
Peabody Fund
Started by George Peabody, the purpose of the fund was to provide education to the poorest regions of the South. It's reasoning for being started was largely the destruction that had been caused during the Civil War and would only benefit white children. -
Department of Education
United States Congress creates the Department of Education in order to collect information and statistics from schools. -
First Reconstruction Act Approved
This act would aim to keep Southern states under control. The purpose of the first act was to split the ten Southern states into five military districts. -
Second Reconstruction Act Passed
Expanding on the first, it placed military commanders to act as governors over the five districts. It also required that office holders in the South had to recite an oath as well as changes to voting. This was meant to make it harder for ex-Confederates to have less of an impact in the government. -
Lincoln Memorial Approved
Congress approves the building of the Lincoln Memorial, which honors the significant president -
USA Purchases Alaska
In a deal that was stalled by the Civil War, the U.S. buys Alaska from Russia for the price of $7,200,000 or 2 cents per acre. -
Third Reconstruction Act Passed
Giving supreme control to the five Union generals in control of the districts.These generals were given ultimate power as they could remove any officiafrom office if they were thought to have been hampering with the process of Reconstruction. These acts will push Southern citizens over the edge who will result to violence through the Ku Klux Klan. -
First Black University
With the help of Congress the first all African American college is created in Washington D.C. named Howard U. -
Johnson Suspends Stanton
President Johnson suspends Secretary of War Edward Stanton regarding policies about Reconstruction in the South.
