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Missouri Compromise
This was one of the beginning efforts to balance out which states participated in the ownership of slaves and which prohibited it. -
Compromise of 1850
Compromise to ease tensions between the North and South when California entered as a free state. Included the Fugitive Slave Act. -
Bleeding Kansas
When Kansas was voting to become a state thousands of people from the north and south went to vote whether it would be a free or slave state. This rose tensions and caused much violence. -
Dred Scott
A slave had sued his "owner" after they returned from a free state. Case was brought all the way to the supreme court, but Dred did not get his freedom. If he had testified in a free state he would have won. -
John Brown's Execution
After the Bleeding Kansas incident a man who named himself "God's executioner" began slaughtering towns of slave owners. After tying to take a federal armory with his sons and slaves that never arrived he was captured and executed as a terrorist in the south and martyr in the north. -
Abraham Becomes President
When Abraham Lincoln wins the presidential election the southern states decide they have had enough and begin to secede. -
The Union Falls Apart
South Carolina withdraws from the Union and in the next 6 weeks Texas, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana secede as well. -
The Confederate Begins
The states who seceded from the union create their own independent republic. The only changes they made was that all states allowed slaves, and the president had one six year term. -
Fort Sumter
The Confederates attack Fort Sumter in South Carolina and start the civil war. This battle was fought because the United States owned the fort, but it overlooked a dock that the south could use to ship many goods. The Confederates won. -
Battle of Bull Run
This battle occurred close to Washington DC. Because it was so close to the capital people went on picnics to watch the "quick" battle. The battle ended up being brutal and onlookers were horrified. 4,878 people were killed. -
Steel Warships
Battle between two ironclad ships from the north and south render wooden ships obsolete and ushers in a new era of technology. -
Battle of Shiloh
After Ulysses S. Grant was doing well in pinching the south a surprise attach is launched upon them. More people die in one day of this battle than ever before. This was only the ninth worst battle. -
Battle of Antietam
22,000 union soldiers die in one day and the south retreats. It is believed that if he had continued the battle the war would have ended soon. As the south was retreating the north did not continue and that made Lincoln mad. -
Emancipation Proclamation
When Lincoln realized he had to end slavery he wrote a degree to end slavery and punish southerners. It freed all enslaved people in still rebelling states. This changed the war from preserving the Union to a war of liberation. -
Vicksburg
This fight was over control of the Mississippi River. Vicksburg was the last major confederate base on the river. Grant attacked but couldn't control. They laid siege for 3 months starving the Confederates. The confederacy surrenders. -
Gettysburg
South is vigorously attacking north. Three day long brutal battle at Gettysburg. The first day the Confederates push the Union Army way back until the Union finally holds in a stalemate. The third day Robert E. Lee makes a mistake and kills 7000 troops in thirty minutes. They retreat. -
Stonewall Jackson Dies
General Thomas Jackson dies from wounds sustained when he was mistakenly shot by his own troops. -
Sherman's March
William Tecumseh scorches his way to Atlanta to show the southerners how bad war can be and that the Confederacy cannot protect them. The march was 60 miles wide. -
Lincoln's Reelection
When Lincoln won the re-election he saw it as an opportunity to permanently end slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment banned slavery forever in the United States. The amendment would not have been passed it the way ended before. -
The South Surrenders
Lee finally surrenders to Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse. The terms are generous and the army receives food and horses to return home. This finally ends the war.
