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Election of 1860
In the presidentia election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln (a Republican) was voted president of the United States. This upsets pro-slavery representatives because they believe that his presidency will cause the government to become radical and abolish slavery. -
Southern Secession
The first state to secede from the Union was South Carolina. Within the next two months more southern states followed. These states included: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Not everyone in those states wanted to secede; for exapmle, Houston (a war hero from the Mexican Wat) did not want Texas to secede, but was then kicked out of polotics. -
The Confederacy of the United States of America
The seceded states formed a new "nation" with Jefferson Davis as their president. Not everyone knows if this is a good idea. Even Davis seems to be concerned with this cause. -
Writ of Habeas Corpus Suspeneded
John Merryman, a state legislator from Maryland, was arrested for attempting to hinder Union troops from moving from Baltimore to Washington during the Civil War and was held at Fort McHenry by Union military officials. His attorney immediately sought a writ of habeas corpus so that a federal court could examine the charges. However, President Abraham Lincoln decided to suspend the right of habeas corpus. -
First Battle of Bull Run
Union and Confederate armies clashed near Manassas Junction, Virginia, in the first major land battle of the American Civil War. Known as the First Battle of Bull Run (or Manassas), the engagement began when about 35,000 Union troops marched from the federal capital in Washington, D.C. to strike a Confederate force of 20,000 along a small river known as Bull Run. After fighting on the defensive for most of the day, the rebels rallied and were able to break the Union right flank -
First Confiscation Act
It authorized Union seizure of rebel property, and it stated that all slaves who fought with or worked for the Confederate military services were freed of further obligations to their masters.President Abraham Lincoln objected to the act on the basis that it might push border states, especially Kentucky and Missouri, into secession in order to protect slavery within their boundaries. -
Trent Affair
Charles Wilkes, a U.S. Navy Officer, captured two Confederate envoys aboard the British mail ship, the Trent. Great Britain accused the United States of violating British neutrality, and the incident created a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Great Britain during the Civil War. -
First Income Tax
In order to support the Civil War effort, Congress enacted the nation's first income tax law.During the Civil War, a person earning from $600 to $10,000 per year paid tax at the rate of 3%. Those with incomes of more than $10,000 paid taxes at a higher rate. -
Monitor vs Merrimack
Battle of the Monitor (Union) and Merrimack (Confederacy), 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. The two ironclads faced off once more, on April 11, 1862, but did not engage, neither being willing to fight on the other’s terms. -
The Battle of Shiloh
Also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, the Battle of Shiloh was one of the major early engagements of the American Civil War (1861-65). The battle began when the Confederates launched a surprise attack on Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant in southwestern Tennessee. After initial successes, the Confederates wereunable to hold their positions and were forced back,resulting in a Union victory. Both sides suffered heavy losses, with more than 23,000 total casualties, and -
Capture of New Orleans
ttle of New Orleans, (April 24–25, 1862), naval action by Union forces seeking to capture the city during the American Civil War. A Union naval squadron of 43 ships under Admiral David G. Farragut entered the lower Mississippi near New Orleans and soon breached the heavy chain cables that were stretched across the river as a prime defense. Realizing that resistance was useless, Confederate General Mansfield Lovell withdrew his 3,000 troops northward, and the city fell on April 25. On May 1 Gener -
Homestead/Morrill Land Grant Acts
*The Homestead Act, enacted during the Civil War in 1862, provided that any adult citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne arms against the U.S. government could claim 160 acres of surveyed government land.
*Sponsored by Vermont Congressman Justin Morrill, the Morrill Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1862; it provided each state with 30,000 acres of Federal land for each member in their Congressional delegation. -
Second Confiscation Act
Was virtually an emancipation proclamation. It said that slaves of civilian and military Confederate officials “shall be forever free,” but it was enforceable only in areas of the South occupied by the Union Army. Lincoln was again concerned about the effect of an antislavery measure on the border states and again urged these states to begin gradual compensated emancipation. -
Harpers Ferry
The stage for the Battle of Harpers Ferry was set in early September 1862, when Gen. Robert E. Lee opened the Maryland Campaign in an attempt to draw the Army of the Potomac out of war-worn Virginia. The garrison surrendered to the Conferate general, Stonewall Jackson, giving the surrender at Harpers Ferry the distinction of leading to the capture of the most prisoners of any battle throughout the war. -
The Battle of Antietam
At dawn, the hills of Sharpsburg, Maryland, thundered with artillery and musket fire as the Northern and Southern armies struggled for possession of the Miller farm cornfield during the Civil War. For three hours, the battle lines swept back and forth across the land. More lives would be lost on September 17, 1862, than on any other day in the nation's history.
By mid-morning, General Robert E. Lee's Confederate troops were crouched behind the high banks of a country lane. They fired upon advanc -
The 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."Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of Americans and fundamentally transformed the character of the war. -
Draft Act of 1863
Was the first instance of compulsory service in the federal military services. All male citizens, as well as aliens who had declared their intention of becoming citizens, between 20 and 45 were at risk of being drafted. No married man could be drafted until all the unmarried had been taken.
Two methods of evading the draft were available. A man could hire a substitute who would serve in his place, or he could simply pay $300 to get out of the obligation. -
The Union Siege of Vicksburg
From the spring of 1862 until July 1863, during the American Civil War (1861-65), Union forces waged a campaign to take the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi, which lay on the east bank of the Mississippi River, halfway between Memphisto the northand New Orleansto the south.The capture of Vicksburg divided the Confederacy and proved the military genius of Union General Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85). -
Capture of Atlanta
The Battle of Atlanta was fought on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Union forces commanded by William T. Sherman, wanting to neutralize the important rail and supply hub, defeated Confederate forces defending the city under John B. Hood. After ordering the evacuation of the city, Sherman burned most of the buildings in the city, military or not. After taking the city, Sherman headed south towards Savannah, beginning his Sherman’s March To The Sea. -
Abraham Lincoln's Re-election
Abraham Lincoln was nearly defeated in his reelection attempt in 1864. Lincoln himself thought that his apponent, George B. McClellan, would win. With the Union sudden string of victories, he was re-elected. -
Sheman's March to the Sea
Is the name commonly given to the Savannah Campaign by General William Tecumseh Sherman taking place from November 15, 1864 to December 21, 1864. After leaving the decimated city of Atlanta on November 16, Sherman led his troops on a destructive campaign which concluded with the capture of the port city of Savannah on December 21. -
Confederate Capital (Richmond) is Captured
On the evening of April 2, the Confederate army fled the city with the army right behind. On the morning of April 3, the Union army entered the capital. Richmond was the holy grail of the Union war effort, the object of four years of campaigning. -
Surrender at Appomattox
On April 9, 1865 after four years of Civil War, approximately 630,000 deaths and over 1 million casualties, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, at the home of Wilmer and Virginia McLean in the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. -
Abraham Lincoln's Assasination
On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer, fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln at a play 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.
Lincoln died the following day (Arpil 15th). -
Thirteenth Ammendment to the United States Constitution is Ratified
Declared 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, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Formally abolishing slavery in the United States, the 13th Amendment was passed by the Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified by the states on December 6, 1865.
