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Start of the War
After seceding from the Union, due to Lincoln's election, fired on and captured the Union held Fort Sumter in South Carolina. This event triggered the start of the Civil War. -
Battle of Bull Run
This battle was produced from Lincoln's order to invade Virginia in the summer of 1861 and take the Confederacy's capital, Richmond, VA.The fight then breaks out by a little creek called Bull Run. Surprisingly the Confederates won and the North is shocked by the end result. Forces Lincoln and the North to take the South serious. -
Battle of Antietam
General McClellan moves on to attack the south and runs into Lee's Army at Antietam. Lee is forced to withdraw into Virginia and McClellan does not follow his army. Turns out it was a missed chance to finish off his crippled army and Lincoln ends up firing McClellan because he missed his chance. It was the single bloodiest day in all of American history. -
Lincoln Declares the Emancipation Proclamation
Many were encouraging Lincoln to free slaves, but he believed he didn't have the power Constitutionally, some states opposed it, and he didn't want to lose the border states. So in January 1st, 1863 he issues the Emancipation Proclamation which freed all slaves in the rebellion states (the Confederacy). He frees the slaves in the South because the Constitution allowed it as a military action and Congress would have to change it as an amendment. -
Draft Riots
In 1863 Draft Laws were passed which required men to serve in the military if you were able-bodied, white, and a male between 18-45. There was a disagreement of these new laws within the states so they rebelled and rioted.These riots showed how unhappy and unwilling people were to fight for their country if forced to. -
Formation of the 54th Mass
After the emancipation, African-Americans were allowed to serve in the army. Black soldiers were organized into all-black regiments led by white officers and were often given the worse jobs and paid less. The 54th of Massachusetts is the most famous of all black regiments. Their first fight was on May 28, 1863 and their most famous fight was their attack on Fort Wagner in South Carolina on July 18,1863 because they were given some of the hardest jobs, many died, and gained respect. -
Battle of Gettysburg
In June 1863 General Lee crossed into Pennsylvania heading for Gettysburg where there was a rumored supply of shoes.On July 1st Lee's troops ran into Union troops and both called in reinforcements.The battle went on for three days and the Union came out victorious. This battle will be a turning point in the war and from now on the Union will continue to win major battles. -
Defeat of Vicksburg
The day after Gettysburg the Union had received word that Ulysses S. Grand had defeated the confederates at Vicksburg. Vicksburg was the last stronghold of the Confederates on the Mississippi River. Now that the Union had control of the river it had fulfilled the Anaconda Plan and they gained complete control of the river splitting up the South. -
Gettysburg Address
Lincoln came to Gettysburg to speak at a cemetery that was honoring and buried 3,500 soldiers. His speech was only 272 words long and lass than 2 minutes in length. He declared that they cannot let those who died be for nothing and make a plea to continue to fight for democracy. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
While General Grant was leading the Union army, General Sherman started a Total War. This meant a war not only against enemy troops, but against anything that supports the enemy. He and his troops tore up rail lines, destroyed crops, and burned and looted towns. He is still seen in a negative light in the South today. -
Creation of Freedman's Bureau
The Freedmen's Bureau was a government organization that tried to help former slaves.They would help to educate former slaves and look for family members that were separated during slavery.There were also Freedmen's Bureau Schools that were set up to help former slaves learn to read and write.Most of the schools would meet whenever and wherever they could -
Passing the 13th Amendment
Once Lincoln was re-elected for a second term as President he began to push laws on congress to pass. In January of 1865 the 13th Amendment was passed which abolished slavery, prohibited involuntary servitude, and nullified the Fugitive Slave Act and 3/5 Compromise. -
The End of the Civil War
As General Grant continued to chase Lee, Lee knew the continuation of fighting would be pointless. He sends a message to Grant saying he is ready to surrender. On April 8, 1865, Lee and Grant met in a town called Appomattox Courthouse where Lee surrendered ending the war and Southern hopes. They both agreed on the terms to stop fighting and return home. -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Five days after Robert E. Lee surrenders the war Lincoln ends up getting shot. Lincoln and his wife went to see a play at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C. John Wilkes Booth crept into a balcony behind the President and shot him in the back of the head. Lincoln ends up dying the next day. Lincoln's future plans for reconstruction and former slaves are now gone. -
14th Amendment
Congress was not satisfied with just the Civil Rights Act, which said all person's born in the U.S. are citizens (except natives), so they passed the 14th Amendment.This amendment stated that all people born in the U.S. were citizens, had the same rights,were granted "equal protection of the laws", and if any state kept blacks from voting they would lose representatives in Congress.They made it an amendment because it meant that all the states had to follow it. -
15th Amendment
In response to the 14th Amendment, the South tried to restrict voting of blacks by passing laws and barriers. So congress responded to the South by passing the 15th Amendment. This stated that citizens cant' be stopped from "voting on account of race or color". Again they make it into an amendment because all states must follow now. -
End of Reconstruction
In 1876 Rutherford B Hayes was elected President In 1877 he withdrew the last federal troops from the South. These two events was the end of reconstruction and the Republican's fight for racial equality. Soon afterwards in the 1950's the Civil Rights Movement will begin. -
Plessy vs Ferguson
When Homer Plessy, a black man, sat in the "whites only" section of a railroad car he was arrested and put in jail. He ended up taking his case to the Supreme Court where they ruled segregation to not be unconstitutional. The court had said segregation was separate but equal. This rule would not be overturned until Brown vs Board of Education.