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Missouri Comprimise
The Missouri Compromise was an effort by Congress to defuse the sectional and political rivalries triggered by the request of Missouri late in 1819 for admission as a state in which slavery would be permitted. At the time, the United States contained twenty-two states, evenly divided between slave and free. -
Compromise of 1850
Senator Henry Clay introduced a series of resolutions on January 29, 1850, in an attempt to seek a compromise and avert a crisis between North and South. As part of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was amended and the slave trade in Washington, D.C., was abolished. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. ... Abolitionists nicknamed it the "Bloodhound Law" for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly, is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S. and is said to have "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War." -
Ostend Manifesto
The Ostend Manifesto, also known as the Ostend Circular, was a document written in 1854 that described the rationale for the United States to purchase Cuba from Spain while implying that the U.S. should declare war if Spain refused. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30´. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in the United States between 1854 and 1861 which emerged from a political and ideological debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas. -
Dried Scott VS. Sanford
In Dred Scott v. Sandford (argued 1856 -- decided 1857), the Supreme Court ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. The Court also ruled that Congress lacked power to ban slavery in the U.S. territories. -
Lincoln Douglass Debates
The Lincoln–Douglas debates were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry (also known as John Brown's raid or The raid on Harpers Ferry) was an effort by abolitionist John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt in 1859 by taking over a United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. -
Secession
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Threats of secession can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals. It is, therefore, a process, which commences once a group proclaims the act of secession. -
Election of 1860
United States presidential election of 1860, American presidential election held on Nov. 6, 1860, in which Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell. -
Lincoln wins close race
Abraham Lincoln wins a four-way race for President of the United States. Although he doesn't win a popular majority and isn't even on the ballot in nine Southern states, he earns enough electoral votes to beat all other opponents. -
South Carolina First to Secede
The convention then adjourned to Charleston to draft an ordinance of secession. When the ordinance was adopted on December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first slave state in the south to declare that it had seceded from the United States. -
Alabama Secession
The secession convention invited all slaveholding states to secede, but only 7 Cotton States of the Lower South formed the Confederacy with Alabama, while the majority of slave states were in the Union and voted to make U.S. slavery permanent by passing the Corwin Amendment, signed by President Buchanan and backed . -
Mississippi Secession
A Declaration of the Immediate causes which induce and justify the Secession of Mississippi from the Federal Union and an Ordinance to dissolve the union between the State of Mississippi and other states united with her under the compact entitled “The Constitution of the United States of America.” -
Florida Secession
Secession was declared January 10, 1861, and, after less than a month as an independent republic, Florida became one of the founding members of the Confederacy. The first six states to secede had the largest population of slaves among the Southern states. -
Georgia Secession
The Georgia Secession Convention of 1861 represents the pinnacle of the state's political sovereignty. With periodic interruptions, the convention met in Milledgeville from January 16 to March 23, 1861, and not only voted to secede the state from the Union but also created Georgia's first new constitution since 1798. -
Louisiana Secession
The state of Louisiana seceded from the United States on January 26, 1861. It then joined the Confederate States of America. Louisiana was the sixth state to secede. -
Texas Secession
Secession in the United States. ... On the eve of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln argued that states were not sovereign before the Constitution but instead they were created by it. Current Supreme Court precedent, in Texas v. White, holds that the states cannot secede from the union by an act of the state. -
Lincoln Inauguration
The first inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as the 16th President of the United States was held on Monday, March 4, 1861, on the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. -
Confederate Constitution Signed
The Confederate States Constitution, formally the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, was the supreme law of the Confederate States, as adopted on March 11, 1861, and in effect from February 22, 1862, through the conclusion of the American Civil War. -
Civil War Begins
The war began when the Confederates bombarded Union soldiers at Fort Sumter, South Carolina on April 12, 1861. The war ended in Spring, 1865. Robert E. Lee surrendered the last major Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. -
Virginia Secession
The Commonwealth of Virginia became a prominent part of the Confederate States of America when it joined the Confederacy during the American Civil War. As a Southern slave-holding state, Virginia held a state convention to deal with the secession crisis, and voted against secession on April 4, 1861. -
Arkansas Secession
During the American Civil War, Arkansas was a Confederate state, though it had initially voted to remain in the Union. Following the capture of Fort Sumter in April 1861, Abraham Lincoln called for troops from every Union state to put down the rebellion, and Arkansas and several other states seceded. For the rest of the war, Arkansas played a major role in controlling the vital Mississippi River and neighboring states, including Tennessee and Missouri. -
Tennessee Secession
To a large extent, the American Civil War was fought in cities and farms of Tennessee, as only Virginia saw more battles. However, Tennessee is the only state to have major battles or skirmishes fought in every single county. Tennessee was the last of the Southern states to declare secession from the, The centrality of the question of slavery to the secession movement was not -
North Carolina Secession
Secession and War. On May 20, 1861, the state of North Carolina made the most calamitous decision in its history. Following the states of the Deep South, the Tar Heel state seceded from the Union and joined the war for Southern independence. -
Lincoln Requests Army
On May 3 President Lincoln issued a further call for United States Volunteers to serve three years, with regiments to be organized by the state governments, unless sooner discharged. He increased the regular US army by 22,714 men and called for 42,034 more volunteers to enlist for three years. -
First Battle of Bull Run
This was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. On July 16, 1861, the untried Union army under Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, which was drawn up behind Bull Run beyond Centreville -
Union Surrender at Ft. Sumter
After a 33-hour bombardment by Confederate cannons, Union forces surrender Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Harbor. The first engagement of the war ended in Rebel victory. The surrender concluded a standoff that began with South Carolina's secession from the Union on December 20, 1860. -
Moniter vs. Merrimack
Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack, also called Battle of Hampton Roads, (March 9, 1862), in the American Civil War, naval engagement at Hampton Roads, Virginia, a harbour at the mouth of the James River, notable as history's first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of naval warfare. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh was a battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. -
Robert E. Lee Assumes Command
Robert E. Lee (1807-70) served as a military officer in the U.S. Army, a West Point commandant and the legendary general of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War (1861-65). In June 1861, Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia, which he would lead for the rest of the war. -
The Seven Days
The Seven Days Battles were a series of seven battles over seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. -
Second Battle of Bull Run
Second Battle Of Bull Run Summary: The Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Battle of Manassas) was fought August 28–30, 1862, during the American Civil War. It was much larger in scale and in the number of casualties than the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) fought in July 1861 on much of the same ground. -
Antietam
The Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War, fought on September 17, 1862. -
Preliminary Emancipation
President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in the midst of the Civil War, announcing on September 22, 1862, that if the rebels did not end the fighting and rejoin the Union by January 1, 1863, all slaves in the rebellious states would be free. -
Fredricksburg
Fredericksburg is a city in central Texas, known for its wineries. The city's German heritage is on display at the Pioneer Museum, which features settlers' homesteads and artifacts. In the nearby town square, Marktplatz, the Vereins Kirche is a replica of a 19th-century German church that once stood in the city. The vast National Museum of the Pacific War features WWII exhibits, including a recreated combat zone. -
Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
Military Draft
The draft came to an end when the United States Armed Forces moved to an all-volunteer military force. However, the Selective Service System remains in place as a contingency plan; all male civilians between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register so that a draft can be readily resumed if needed. -
Gettysburg
Gettysburg is a borough and town in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It’s known for Gettysburg National Battlefield, site of a turning point in the Civil War, now part of Gettysburg National Military Park. The park also includes the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center, displaying Civil War artifacts, and Gettysburg National Cemetery, where a memorial marks the site of Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Gettysburg Address. -
Pickett’s Charge
Pickett's Charge was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Union positions on July 3, 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg in the state of Pennsylvania during the American Civil War. -
Vicksburg
Vicksburg is a city in western Mississippi. It’s known as the site of a key Civil War battle. The Siege of Vicksburg is commemorated at the vast Vicksburg National Military Park, which encompasses the Vicksburg National Cemetery and the restored USS Cairo gunboat. The landmark Old Court House has a museum displaying Civil War artifacts. The Lower Mississippi River Museum features an aquarium and interactive exhibits. -
Draft Riots
The New York City draft riots (July 13–16, 1863), known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of working-class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War. -
Vicksburg
The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. -
Battle of Chickamauga
fought on September 18 – 20, 1863, between U.S. and Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia -
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech that U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg. -
Stonewall Jackson Dies
But as he and his aides rode back to the lines, a group of Rebels opened fire. Jackson was hit three times, and a Southern bullet shattered his left arm, which had to be amputated the next day. Soon, pneumonia set in, and Jackson began to fade. He died, as he had wished, on the Sabbath, May 10, 1863, with these last words: “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.” -
Grant Takes Command
winning historian reveals why Lincoln knew he was the one general who could win the war. This exhaustively researched biography gives us a new understanding of the man, the growing strength of his character, and the great war itself. -
Virginia Campaign
The Northern Virginia Campaign, also known as the Second Bull Run Campaign or Second Manassas Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during August and September 1862 in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. -
Siege of Petersburg
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. -
Battle of the Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War. -
Battle of Spotsylvania
The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania, was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. -
Battle of Cold Harbor
The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought during the American Civil War near Mechanicsville, Virginia, from May 31 to June 12, 1864, with the most significant fighting occurring on June 3. -
Sherman Burns Atlanta
On November 15, 1864, Union forces led by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman burned nearly all of the captured city of Atlanta, Georgia. More than 3,000 buildings (including businesses, hospitals, homes, and schools) were destroyed. -
Sherman’s March to the Sea
From November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. The purpose of Sherman's March to the Sea was to frighten Georgia's civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause. -
Battle of Nashville
The Battle of Nashville was a two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting west of the coastal states in the American Civil War. -
Savannah Captured
The Siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War, in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell. -
Siege of Petersburg Ends
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. -
Fall of Richmond
After a long siege, Grant captured Petersburg and Richmond in early April 1865. As the fall of Petersburg became imminent, on Evacuation Sunday (April 2), President Davis, his Cabinet, and the Confederate defenders abandoned Richmond and fled south on the last open railroad line, the Richmond and Danville. -
Johnston Surrenders
The surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston's Confederate Army to General William T. Sherman at the Bennett Place, April 26, 1865, was the second and last major stage in the peace making process which ended the War Between the States. General Lee's surrender at Appomattox 17 days earlier was the first. -
13th Amendment Ends Slavery
The Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. In Congress, it was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, and by the House on January 31, 1865. -
Second Lincoln Inaugural
Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865, during his second inauguration as President of the United States. -
Lee Surrenders
At Appomattox, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War. -
Lincoln Shot
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was assassinated by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. -
Slavery Abolished
Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States and provides that "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.