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Abraham Lincoln wins a four-way race for President of the United States.
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South Carolina officially secedes from the Union, becoming the first state to do so.
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The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is signed in Montgomery, Alabama.
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Confederate forces under General P.G.T. Beauregard bombard Major Robert Anderson and his Union soldiers at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War officially begins.
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The Battle of Antietam is the bloodiest day in United States history. Over 26,000 men are killed, wounded or missing in action on both sides. Though officially a draw, the battle stops General Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland and he retreats back to Virginia.
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Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. It frees all slaves in territory captured by the Union Army, and orders the enlistment of Black soldiers. From this point forward, the Civil War is a war over slavery.
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Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson dies from wounds sustained when he was mistakenly shot by his own troops at Chancellorsville.
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rom July 1st to July 4th, the Union Army under General Meade defeats Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. One of the bloodiest battles of the war, Gettysburg is a turning point, and marks the farthest advance of the Confederate Army into Northern territory.
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resident Lincoln delivers the two-minute Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the National Cemetery at the battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
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Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant commander of all Union armies, ending his long search for a decent general to command northern forces. General William T. Sherman takes over as commander in the West.
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The United States Congress approves the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which will abolish slavery.
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Lincoln is sworn in for his second term as President of the United States.
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General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant in a farmhouse in the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The war is over.
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Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.
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The 13th Amendment is ratified by the States. Slavery is abolished.
