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The Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln becomes president and in retaliation, the Southern states secede and form their own pseudo-nation in the form of the Confederate States of America -
Fort Sumter
Out of nowhere, the first shots of the Civil War are fired as Confederate ships lay siege to Fort Sumter. -
First Battle of Bull Run
Lincoln attempted to invade Confederate Virginia but get kicked back out due to Thomas Jackson, otherwise known as "Stonewall", leads the Confederate army to victory. -
Battle of Antietam
This was the single bloodiest day in any war, but also an important victory for the Union. Over 20,000 were either killed or missing at the end. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln passed an act that destroyed slavery in all Confederate states excluding those that were on the border. -
Formation of the 54th Mass.
This was the first time African Americans were allowed to fight in the war, albeit in a regiment of only those people. -
Battle of Gettysburg
One of the bloodiest battles in American history and one of the first victories of the Union thanks to the Army of the Potomac -
Defeat of Vicksburg
As part of the Anaconda Plan, an army was sent to Vicksburg to take the city and the Mississippi River as well, which took from the Spring of 1862 to the July 4th of 1863 -
NYC Draft Riots
The working class, discontent with the draft rules, decide to stand up and fight for what they believed as right. Draft: a process that forced some young men to fight in the army -
Gettysburg Adress
The shortest and most iconic of the presidential speeches, with a little under 300 words states that the men who died in battle will not die in vain and that the country was "made by the people, for the people." -
Sherman's March to the Sea
A march filled with blood and violence that ended with the capture of Atlanta, Georgia, which was an important trading center for the Confederacy. -
Amendment #13
Slavery and involuntary servitude become outlawed in all states, but optional as a punishment for any criminal acts. -
Creation of Freedmen's Bureau
This was created to help the newly freed African-Americans convert to hard-working members of society. -
Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse
Robert E. Lee's forces are driven into the small town of Appomattox Courthouse (yes, that was the actual name of the town) and, with nowhere left to turn, sign their treaty and put an end to the Civil War. -
Abraham's Assassination
At Ford's Theater, a Confederate sympathizer named John Booth shot Abraham Lincoln, who died the next morning -
Amendment #14
This amendment states that all people who are born or naturalized in the U.S. are citizens, and the state government cannot enforce laws on its people that take their rights away. -
Amendment #15
This new amendment stated that people of race, color, and previous servitude could not be denied the right to vote by their state government. -
End of Reconstruction
This was the end to a long era of trying to put the wreckage of the Civil War back together to reform the nation and make peace between brotherly rivals. -
Plessy VS Ferguson
This was a landmark decision for the Supreme Court, which ended with a new doctrine in the form of Jim Crow's "separate but equal" method
