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US Civil War
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Jefferson Davis gives speech
Senator Jefferson Davis gave a speech to the Senate about why slavery needs to be protected in the United States, as well as how the federal government needs to keep their hands off of slavery. His goal was to unite the Democratic Party. -
Cooper Union Adress
On this day, Lincoln gave the believed to be election-winning speech in which he stated that he does not believe in slavery extending to the Western states, backing it up by saying that the Founding Fathers themselves would agree. -
Pony Express Begins
The Pony Express was a mail service that had young men delivering mail for thousands of miles from Missouri to California by horseback in just 10 days! The service began running on this day. It allowed mail to be sent quicker and more efficiently for it's time. -
A Third Party is created
The Constitutional Union Party was a third party made on this day that was also featured during the 1860 election. It consisted of former Whig men of the Southern United States, who refused to pick the Republican or Democratic side. -
Grace Bledell writes to Lincoln
Grace Bedell, an eleven year old girl from New York, convinced Lincoln to grow his iconic beard in a letter where she promised she'd get her brothers to vote Lincoln as long as he grew out his facial hair. -
Lincoln is elected President
Abraham Lincoln is elected President on November 6, 1860, against three other candidates. A Republican candidate who was openly anti-slavery and won with only about 30% of the popular vote. -
Southern Secession Urged
Twenty three house members and seven senators, all from the South, issue a public announcement urging leaders to secede and create a united Southern Confederacy. -
South Carolina Secession Convention
South Carolina opens a convention in Columbia, with massive turnout of citizens. Here they wrote their official ordinance of secession that they would release soon after. -
South Carolina Secedes from the Union
On December 20th, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the United States, forming their own country. The state seceded about a month after the election of Lincoln, disapproving of his stances on slavery. -
South Carolina's Declaration
Four days after leaving the Union, South Carolina issued their official declaration of secession, stating their reasons for exiting the nation. They stated that the "increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the Institution of Slavery" was their reason why. -
Mississippi Secedes
Following South Carolina's footsteps, Mississippi secedes from the Union. Their convention members stated their reason being, "Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery--the greatest material interest of the world". -
Georgia secedes
Just after Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama secede all one day after another, respectively, the fifth state to secede is Georgia. They gave one of the longest explanations, primarily stating that Republican and Northern hostility, tension, and anger led to their exit. -
Lousiana Secedes
Despite many in the state opposing this idea, Lousiana secedes from the Union, following the lead of the five previous states. Their official reason was to protect and preserve slavery. -
Kansas becomes a state!
Kansas is admitted as the 34th state, and as a free one. This caused extreme outrage and violence due to fraudulent votes on the matter from Missouri, leading to the name Bleeding Kansas. -
Texas Secedes
Texas secedes along with it's "sister slave-holding states" as they state in their document of secession, with reasons such as proving solidarity with such states, the Union allowing Native attacks to occur, slave-stealing raids, and others. -
Confederacy is formed
The seven southern states that had just left the Union officially formed the Confederate States of America on this day. They would appoint Jefferson Davis to be their president five days afterwards. -
Fort Sumter
The opening scene of the Civil War occurred at Fort Sumter when Confederate general Beauregard ordered fire on the South Carolina fort. This happened shortly after Lincoln announced plans of resupplying the fort, which angered Confederate forces. There were 0 casualties here, although Union forces did eventually surrender this fort. -
Lincoln suspends habeas corpus
Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus, which is considered unconstitutional yet necessarily in wartime. This allowed people to be detained if they showed opposition or were threatening to military and government officials. -
Battle of Bull Run
The first battle of the Civil War occurs at Bull Run, after poorly trained, disorganized troops from each side fought and thousands of casualties occurred, with eventual Union retreat. Stonewall Jackson earns his nickname here for his persistent attitude. -
McClellan appointed
Considered to be Lincoln's worst decision of the whole war, Lincoln appoints George McClellan commander of the Union army after the aging commander Winfield Scott He told the president "I can do it all". -
Lincoln Issues First General War Order
Lincoln issues a message that all land and sea forces advance on Febrary 22nd, 1862. He mainly issued this as a message for McClellan, who refused to make any advancements with his Army of the Potomac. He ignored this order, only making tensions between him and the president worse. -
Fort Henry
The Union wins their first significant victory at Fort Henry, Tennessee. Union Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant and Commodore Andrew Foote launched a naval attack on the poorly guarded fort and defeated the Confederates, advancing 12 miles North where they would fight again ten days later at Fort Donelson. -
Surrender of Fort Donelson
After five days of fighting, the Confederates surrender Fort Donelson to Ulysses S. Grant who earns his popularity and nickname here. Thanks to Grant's tough spirit and not allowing Southern forces through his army, the Union advanced through the Tennessee River as well as the Cumberland River deep through the Confederacy. -
Battle of Shiloh
Confederate troops surprise General Grant and his troops early in the AM near a Tennessee Church (Shiloh). Despite Grant's effective reorganization and a Union victory, a quarter of 100,000 men were killed in this battle. -
Confederate Conscription
Confederate President Jefferson Davis issues the first Conscription Act. This stated that all white men aged eighteen to thirty five would be obligated to serve three years of service if called, and soldiers already serving would have to serve another twenty four months. -
Battle of New Orleans (April 24-25)
The Union takes control of New Orleans, a major Confederate port, under the command of naval admiral David Farragut. Taking control of this port also gave the Union access to the lower Mississippi River Valley. -
Seven Day's Battles (June 25-July 1st)
General George McClellan of the Army of the Potomac meets Confederate General Robert E. Lee along the Yorktown Peninsula launches a series of bloody battles over seven days. Despite the Confederacy losing more men, McClellan still retreats and does not move forward to capture their capital of Richmond. -
Second Battle of Bull Run
The Confederate victory here ends a Union campaign to invade Confederate capital Richmond. Stonewall Jackson's troops outnumber and clash with Union Major General John Pope, and defeat the Union in an easy victory, forcing them to call reinforcements and retreat. This ruined the already disliked Pope's reputation. -
The Battle of Antietam
The bloodiest single day battle of the war. McClellan and troops find Lee's troop plans wrapped in cigars, at the same time Jackson and Lee are divided from each other. About 23,000 men died in one day, and despite the Union outnumbering the Confederacy, George McClellan does nothing as the vulnerable rebels retreat. Lincoln is furious. The battle is a stalemate in the end. -
Lincoln fires McClellan
Due to his paranoid actions and lack of initiative, President Lincoln removes George B. McClellan from his position as General of the Army of the Potomac. The two had mutual distrust, but after repetitive failure to pursue the Confederate Army, Antietam was the President's last straw and he fires the General shortly after. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, which states that all slaves in Confederate territory are granted freedom. Not only did it change many people's ideas of the war, this also allowed black men to begin fighting for the Union in the war. -
Union Conscription
The Conscription Act is put into effect in the Union, which stated that if individual states did not meet their enlistment requirements through volunteers, white men aged twenty to forty five were eligible to be drafted. They could avoid this by hiring a substitute or paying their way out of it. A number of protests and riots occurred across the North due to the draft. -
Battle of Chancelorsville
The South's most significant yet costly victory fought from April 30th to May 6th. Robert E. Lee's most genius victory, he makes the decision to combat Union general Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac, which is twice as large as Lee's Confederate Army, by splitting his army in two and attacking. Both sides suffered enormous casualties, 12,826 from the South, 17,278 from the North. -
Stonewall Jackson dies
Stonewall Jackson dies at age thirty nine after contracting pneumonia, a week after being mortally wounded during the Battle of Chancellorsville. His own troops accidentally fired on him, mistaking him and his men for Union soldiers. His arm had to be amputated after being shattered, and soon after pneumonia set in, the Confederacy lost one of it's most genius officials. -
West Virginia Added to the Union
West Virginia is added to the Union, the 35th state in the United States, and the first state where the words slave and free no longer mattered. Finally the slave-less mountaineers of the West separated from the aristocratic Southern Confederates of Virginia after years of fighting. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The turning point of the Civil War, the bloodiest single battle of the entire war on a hill in a small Pennsylvania town over the course of three days. After the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville, Lee was very confident in another victory but was proved wrong when Major General George Meade's Union Artillery opened fire and took out more than a third of their total Southern army. Major morale boost for the Union, while they still lost 23,000 men, the Confederates lost 28,000. -
Vicksburg Campaign/Surrender
One of the longest and most successful military campaigns of the Civil War that split the Confederacy in two, completing step two of the Anaconda Plan. After battling from May to July, the Confederates finally surrendered Vicksburg, led by John C. Pemberton of the Confederacy. Having control of Vicksburg cemented Grant's military reputation and gave the Union control of the Mississippi River. Considered the turning point for the Union, major morale boost. -
Lee offers resignation
Lee sends a letter of resignation after his brutal defeat at Gettysburg to the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis. He sensed that the battle was his last chance to win the war, also questioned his abilities as a leader, and the war seemed to be taking quite a toll on him. Davis refused his resignation. -
Gettysburg Address
Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the ceremony for the new ceremony at the battle site, for both casualties that occurred on both sides. In only two minutes, Lincoln delivered one of the most famous speeches in history, with themes of unity and ending the war, gave a major morale boost to the North. -
Battle of Chattanooga
In this battle, the Union successfully drove the Confederates out of Chattanooga, Tennessee and into Georgia, which paved the way for Sherman's March of the Sea the following year. The rivers, rails, and roads of the city were in the Union's hands and would help them immensely in the future. -
First prisoners arrive at Andersonville
The first 500 prisoners of war arrive at Andersonville, a Confederate war prison in Georgia. It was still under construction at the time and was known for being inhumane and cruel to prisoners. -
Grant in Charge
Lincoln puts Ulysses S. Grant, a major general in charge of Union forces in the West, in charge of all Union forces. This gave him the position of a lieutenant general. Lincoln gave William Tecumseh Sherman his former position. -
Overland Campaign
The Union's last plan to end the war begins Grant's men march to Richmond to take the Confederate capital and would go head to head with Lee, and Sherman's to Atlanta. -
Battle of the Wilderness
The first battle of the Overland Campaign in a wooded area of Virginia where both sides suffered immense casualties with 29,000 total casualties. The battle ended in a draw as both sides went South. -
Battle of Spotsylvania
After heading South, Lee and Grant meet again in a two week battle that ended up inconclusive, with both sides claiming victory. Very bloody and costly for both sides, Grant realized after two weeks that his troops could not gain an advantage and continued their march to the Richmond capital. -
Battle of Cold Harbor
Absolutely disastrous defeat for Grant's Union Army, where he lost 7,000 men in twenty minutes. After the Union lost nearly double the amount of men compared to the Confederacy, Grant is forced to slow down and rethinks his strategy. -
Sherman's Atlanta Campaign
On his march to Atlanta, William Tecumseh Sherman and his troops fought Confederate generals John B. Hood and Joseph E. Johnston head on repeatedly. After fierce battles against the Confederacy, Hood surrendered the city on September 2nd. -
Lincoln is Re-elected
Lincoln is reelected for a second term in the Election of 1864 against his former General George B. McClellan. Thanks to the victories from the Union at the time of election, Lincoln was able to win a second term. -
March To The Sea
From November 15th to December 21st, William Tecumseh Sherman led 60,000 troops from Atlanta to Savannah Georgia, burning a wide path of destruction, with 2500 slaves following. The goal of this was to hurt Southern morale into them abandoning the war--which it did. They continued past Savannah into the Carolinas. -
Army of Tennessee defeated
The Army of Tennessee is mortally wounded at the Battle of Nashville, led by general John B. Hood of the Confederacy. After meeting 55,000 Union troops, Bell lost 23,000 and from that point on was unable to fight. -
Failed Peace Talks
Lincoln meets with the Vice President of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens aboard a steamboat in Virginia. The talks were a failure because the Confederate officials were not allowed to accept any settlement besides Confederate independence. -
Fall of Petersburg
Union soldiers led by Grant break through Confederate troops at Petersburg and move onto their capital of Richmond. This ends the 292 day siege of the area. -
Lee Surrenders
Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 troops to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, ending the Civil War. Lee realized that his army was stretched too thin and did not want his soldiers to continue fighting and die without any purpose. -
Lincoln is Assasinated
Lincoln is shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth in Washington D.C. as he was watching a play with friends and family. He died the next morning. Booth was a known Confederate sympathizer who lived in the North and worked as an actor. -
Johnston Surrenders
General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his Army of Tennessee to William T. Sherman in North Carolina, as Sherman continues his march North after destroying Atlanta. Johnston realized his men were tired of the fighting and destruction after over 8,000 had deserted. -
John Wilkes Booth is found and shot
The man who shot President Lincoln is finally caught and shot by Union soldiers who managed to track him down to a Virginia barn. There was a bounty out for the man as a manhunt took place in the days after Lincoln's assassination. -
Juneteenth
Union soldiers arrive in Galveston, Texas to take control of the state after the war had ended. They tell the residents living there about the Emancipation Proclamation, which had gone into effect two years prior, but they had not been aware of this. The former slaves began singing in dancing out of pure joy, and this is now a holiday celebrated by African Americans. -
Conspirators of Lincoln's death are executed
The conspirators of Lincoln's assassination are hanged, the group being David Herold, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, and Mary Surratt after they were found guilty in a trial, along with four others. The rest were sentenced to jail time. -
Henry Wirz is hanged
Henry Wirz, the leader of the cruel Andersonville war prison is hanged for his war crimes. He was the only war criminal executed for his crimes in the whole war. About 13,000 men died at the inhumane war prison in Georgia. -
13th Amendment Ratified
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, effectively ending institutionalized slavery everywhere in the United States. -
The Liberator Last Issue
The Liberator, a revolutionary abolitionist newspaper, releases it's last issue following the 13th Amendment and end of the Civil War. Author William Lloyd Garrison announced in the last issue “my vocation as an abolitionist is ended.” -
Jesse James
Jesse James, a former Confederate guerrilla and his gang of friends commit a bank robbery in Liberty Missouri during broad daylight. The gang would continue making moves for the next decade. -
The Nickel is created
The U.S. Mint begins circulating the nickel, with a value of five cents. The half dime is removed from circulation, yet is still used in the country for a while. -
Winfield Scott Dies
Winfield Scott dies at age seventy nine. He fought in three wars and is one of the most distinguished soldiers of our nation. He was Commander In Chief of the Army at the start of the war but retired due to age, to be replaced by George McClellan. -
Tennessee is Readmitted
Tennessee is the first of the Confederate States to be readmitted into the union. They had also been the last state to secede from the Union. -
General Rank Established
The four star rank of General is created for Ulysses S. Grant on this day. He is awarded this for his outstanding leadership and work during the Civil War. -
Transatlantic Cable
The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable is put into use on this day. It went from Britain to the United States and was very helpful until it stopped operating in 1965. -
14th Amendment Ratified
The 14th Amendment to the constitution is ratified, giving citizens rights to all people born in the United States- including those born into slavery. This would not be adopted for another two years. -
New Orleans Massacre
A mob of former Confederate white men attacked a peaceful group of African Americans at a Louisiana Constitutional Convention meeting. This was one of many racial riots and acts of violence during Reconstruction after the war. -
Johnson Declares War Over
President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation officially declaring the Civil War over. There had not been a formal issue of peace in the country up until now although fighting had already been over for a year. -
Right to Vote
Black men in Washington D.C. gain the right to vote on this day. Johnson vetoed this, but Congress overrode it with a vote of 29-10. -
Peabody Education Fund
The Peabody Fund is created to help give Southern students a brighter future and education in the areas that were struggling after the war. Ulysses S. Grant was one of the original trustees. -
First Reconstruction Act
The act became law after Congress overrode a Presidential veto. The law divided the former Confederate states, aside from Tennessee into five military districts and would have to gain approval for new state constitutions, as well as ratify the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments. -
Second Reconstruction Act
The Second Reconstruction Act established and clarified that the military commanders held responsibility to register voters and hold elections in their territories when it came to voting on new state constitutions. It also made the citizens recite a pledge before voting, and also made it so the constitutions could be passed easier by only needing the majority of votes cast rather than all registered voters. -
Ride Ins
At the end of a freedmen's meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, one of the first protests against racial segregation took place. Two to five black men sat next to the white passengers on a street car, when at the time they were supposed to ride in separate cars. -
Lincoln Memorial
Congress approves the now famous and iconic Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. It would not be fully made and opened to the public until 1922. -
Alaska
President Andre Johnson announces the decision to purchase Alaska, the second to last state that would be added. -
Third Reconstruction Act
This act overrode a presidential veto once again. It established categories of former Confederate officials who were not allowed to vote on the constitutions. It also allowed officials to reject votes if they thought they might be fraudulent. -
Johnson suspends Stanton
Johnson suspends Edwin M. Stanton while Congress is not in session. He replaces him with Ulysses S. Grant. This would be one of the reasons why Johnson would be impeached. -
Johnson vs Representatives
After constant overriding of vetoes, disagreement, and dissent, Congress looks into impeachment, They vote on this day to look into impeachment after a 5-4 vote from the House Committee on the Judiciary.