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South Carolina votes to secede from the United States
In 1860 South Carolina seceded form the united states and so began the confederacy. -
Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address
After Lincoln was elected president he gave two Inaugural Addresses the first one was during his oath of office. -
Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter
Over 3,300 shells and “hot shots” had been fired at the fort during the initial 34-hour bombardment by 43 Confederate guns. -
Lincoln suspends habeas corpus
Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia to give military authorities the necessary power to silence dissenters and rebels. -
Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy
Once Virginia seceded, the Confederate government moved the capital to Richmond, the South's second-largest city. The move served to solidify the state of Virginia's new Confederate identity. -
First Battle of Bull Run is fought
The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of Manassas, marked the first major land battle of the American Civil War. -
Jefferson Davis elected President of the Confederacy
In the year 1861 Jefferson Davis was elected president of the confederacy in Montgomery Alabama. -
The Merrimac and the Monitor fight of the Virginia coast
Hampton Roads, Virginia, a harbor at the mouth of the James River, is notable as history's first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of naval warfare. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh was an early battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. -
Robert E. Lee is named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
The most successful of the Southern armies during the American Civil War, and ultimately commanded all the Confederate armies. -
Battle of Antietam
Antietam, the deadliest one-day battle in American military history, showed that the Union could stand against the Confederate army in the Eastern theater. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
It was a battle with many Union casualties, the largest river crossing of the war, and it also acted as a boost for the Confederate hopes of victory. -
Emancipation Proclamation is announced
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." -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. -
Battle of Gettysburg
This battle was between the Union and the Confederates. It took place in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. -
Confederates surrender at Vicksburg
Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton surrendered the city of Vicksburg and the Confederate garrison defending it to Major General Ulysses S. Grant. -
New York City Draft Riots
The New York City draft riots, sometimes referred to as the Manhattan draft riots and known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan -
Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address
The victory of U.S. forces, which turned back a Confederate invasion, marked a turning point in the Civil War. -
Atlanta is captured
This was an important triumph because Atlanta was a railroad hub and the industrial center of the Confederacy: It had munitions factories, foundries, and warehouses that kept the Confederate army supplied with food, weapons, and other goods. -
Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election
Near the end of the American Civil War, incumbent President Abraham Lincoln of the National Union Party easily defeated the Democratic nominee, former General George B. McClellan, by a wide margin of 212–21 in the electoral college, with 55% of the popular vote. -
Sherman begins his March to the Sea
American Civil War campaign that concluded Union operations in the Confederate state of Georgia -
Richmond falls to the Union Army
The Rebel capital of Richmond, Virginia, falls to the Union, the most significant sign that the Confederacy is nearing its final days. For ten months, General Ulysses S. Grant had tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate the city. -
Congress passes the 13th Amendment
Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States -
Freedmen's Bureau is created
Congress passed “An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees” to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans. -
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
Only 41 days before his assassination, President Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office for the second time. -
Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox
Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 Confederate troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War. -
President Lincoln Assassinated
President Lincoln was assassinated in a theatre on April 14, 1865. The man who killed him was none other than John Wilks Booth. -
John Wilkes Booth is killed
John Wilkes Booth was the killer of Abraham Lincoln.