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Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin is an abolitionist novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and originally published in 1852. The novel is known to have “helped lay groundwork for the American Civil war” and shows readers the true brutality of slavery. The book also began to move more people living in the North to consider being abolitionists or to end the institution of slavery. -
Lincoln Gets Elected
Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States of America on November 6, 1860, as the first Republican to win the presidency. Though he only received 40 percent of the popular vote, he still won against three other candidates, including John C. Breckinridge, John Bell, and Stephen Douglas. -
Union Blockade
The Union Blockade was a Union Naval strategy that lasted four years from 1861 to 1865. The union forces created a blockade made of Confederate ports intended to stop the exportation of cotton and war materials into the Confederacy. This blockade was a vital economic policy that was able to prevent the Confederate’s access to weapons produced by the north. -
Formation of the Confederacy
In February of 1861, representatives from six southern states met in Montgomery Alabama to establish their own formal government called the Confederate States of America. They elected Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as their first Confederate president. They formed this government in an attempt to shut down President Abraham Lincoln’s beliefs about the abolishment of Slavery and to try to keep Slavery in the South. -
Fort Sumter
The battle of Fort Sumter started the Civil War. On April 12th, 1861, the current president, Abraham Lincoln, released plans to resupply Fort Sumter. The confederate general, P.G.T. Beauregard, attacked the fort on this same day, beginning the war. After 34-hours, Union leader Anderson along with 86 union soldiers surrendered the fort to the confederates. -
First Battle of Bull Run
The First Battle of Bull Run was fought on July 21, 1861, and was the first major battle in the Civil War. The Confederates won under command of General P.G.T. Beauregard against the Union Army commanded by Irvin McDowell. The two armies fought close to Manassas Junction, Virginia. This initially began when Union soldiers came from the federal capital in Washington D.C in an attempt to strike the Confederates along the Bull Run River. -
Battle of the Ironclads
The Battle of the Ironclads, also known as the Battle of Hampton Roads, lasted two days, from Mar 8, 1862 – Mar 9, 1862. It took place near Hampton Roads in Virginia and considered the most famous naval battle of the Civil War. Two ironclad ships, the CSS Virginia and the USS Cumberland fought each other until eventually, the outcome was inconclusive; no damage from each other’s cannons could be done to the iron ships. -
Shiloh
The Union Army under command of General Ulysses S. Grant won the Battle of Shiloh on April 7, 1862. This Battle took place in Pittsburg, Tennessee. This win for the Union Army against the Confederates led General Grant to take control of a large operation in Mississippi that would occur after this battle regarding the Vicksburg Campaign. -
Capture of New Orleans
Both the Union and Confederate forces considered New Orleans, Louisiana, to be a strategic city during the American Civil War. In early 1862, Confederate forces concentrated in Northern Mississippi at the mouth of the Mississippi River. On April 25, 1862, Union forces invaded and fought the confederates for control of New Orleans, and on May 1, 1862, succeeded. -
Antietam
The Battle of Antietam occurred on September 17, 1862, at the Antietam Creek close to Sharpsburg, Maryland. The Union won this battle against the Confederate army under command of General Robert E. Lee. This battle is known as the pinnacle of General Lee’s attempts to invade the north. This event had a large influence on America’s future and was the deadliest one-day battle in American military history. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, and granted that all slaves in the south would be freed if the Union won the war. This proclamation was put into full effect on January 1, 1863. -
Fredericksburg
The Confederacy won the Battle of Fredericksburg against the Union Army in Fredericksburg, Virginia. At that time, General Ambrose E. Burnside planned to move his Army towards the Rappahannock River and cross it before the Confederate Army under command of Robert E. Lee could block their route. However, Robert E. Lee and his Army reached the Union, slowing them down and stopping them from crossing the river. Eventually, General Ambrose E. Burnside surrendered and recrossed the river. -
Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville took place from April 30-May 6, 1863, and is considered a significant Confederate victory of the American Civil War. The Union Army was led by General Joseph Hooker and the Confederates were under command of General Robert E. Lee, whose second-in-command, General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, was seriously wounded as a result of the battle. -
Battle of Vicksburg
The Union Army under command of General Ulysses S. Grant won the Battle of Vicksburg against the Confederates under command of General John C. Pemberton. This battle is also called the Siege of Vicksburg, and lasted 47 days, from May 18, 1863, to July 4, 1863. This battle marked the last influential military action in the Civil War regarding the Vicksburg Campaign. -
Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg is a significant Union army victory known as an important point on the timeline of the Civil War. This battle lasted three days and is considered the largest battle in the American Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg involved about 85,000 soldiers in the Union Army of Potomac under Major General George Gordon Meade, and around 75,000 in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of General Robert Edward Lee. -
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address was a speech given by Abraham Lincoln that states, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Lincoln gave this speech after the battle of Gettysburg in order to encourage others to honor those who died in the battle and to maintain the nation imagined by America's founding fathers. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution states, “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.” This amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, abolishing slavery and freeing all slaves. -
Appamattox
Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union Army General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, at the Appomattox courthouse. This act officially ended the American Civil War. The Appomattox courthouse stands in the town of Appomattox, Virginia. -
Lincoln's Assasination
On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln and his wife sat in the presidential box at Ford’s Theatre and attended a performance of Our American Cousin. A famous actor at the time, John Wilkes booth, shot and killed President Lincoln in the presidential box. John Wilkes booth assassinated Lincoln in an attempt to show his loyalty to the Confederate army after a recent loss at the Appomattox Court House. -
Battle of Palmito Ranch
The Battle of Palmito Ranch took place from May 12-13, 1865, and resulted in a Confederate Victory. This battle occurred on the Palmito Ranch Battlefield and is considered, by some, to be the last battle of the American Civil War, though it happened after the war had ended and the Union was already declared victorious.
