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President Abraham Lincoln is elected
- Abraham Lincoln, who had declared "Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free..." is elected president, the first Republican, receiving 180 of 303 possible electoral votes and 40 percent of the popular vote.
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South Carolina secedes from the Union
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first Southern state to declare its secession and later formed the Confederacy -
The Battle of Gettysburg
The Confederates attack Fort Sumter and the Civil War begins . -
Firing on Fort Sumter (battle)
General P.G.T. Beauregard, in command of the Confederate forces around Charleston Harbor, opened fire on the Union garrison holding Fort Sumter. -
North Carolina secedes from Union
The North Carolina legislature voted that counties should elect delegates who would determine whether North Carolina would remain in the Union. -
The Battle of Mananas
This was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia.The untried Union army under Brig. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation . -
The Battle of the Crater
After weeks of preparation, on July 30 the Federals exploded a mine in Burnside’s IX Corps sector beneath Pegram’s Salient, blowing a gap in the Confederate defenses of Petersburg. -
Joseph E. Johnston surrenders at Bennett Place, North Carolina
Union General William T.
Sherman and Confederate General Joseph
E. Johnston met at the Bennett Place in North
Carolina and negotiated the largest troop
surrender of the Civil War