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Fugitive Slave Act
The fugitive slave act was a law that allowed citizens to capture slaves and return them back to their states that they were before -
Kansas - Nebraska Act
Creating the Kansas and Nebraska territories -
Harper's Ferry
U.S. Marines storm engine house at Harpers Ferry and capture John Brown -
Lincoln wins presidency
Abraham Lincoln wins the 1860 election unanimously -
South Carolina is the first to secede
South Carolina officially secedes from the Union, becoming the first state to do so. -
Civil War begins
Confederate forces under General Beauregard bombard Major Robert Anderson and his Union soldiers at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina -
First Battle of Bull Run
General McDowell of the Union is defeated causing a panicked retreat back to Washington. -
Battle of Shiloh
Union General Ulysses S. Grant's forces are surprised at the town of Shiloh in Tennessee. The ensuing battle results in 13,000 Union and 10,000 Confederate casualties. -
Seven Days Battle
General Robert E. Lee attacks George McClellan's Union Army of the Potomac near Richmond, Virginia. -
Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam is the bloodiest day in United States history. Though officially a draw, the battle stops General Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland and he retreats back to Virginia. -
Battle of Fredricksburg
The Union Army under General Ambrose E. Burnside suffers a horrible defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. It frees all slaves in territory captured by the Union Army, and orders the enlistment of Black soldiers -
Battle of Chancellorsville and Stonewall Jackson dies
Over the course of three days, General Robert E. Lee divides his army in the face of a larger enemy, and manages to defeat the Union Army led by "Fighting" Joe Hooker. Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson dies from wounds sustained when he was mistakenly shot by his own troops -
Battle of Gettysburg
From 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. -
Battle of Vicksburg
Ulysses S. Grant takes Vicksburg after a long siege. At this point, the Union controls the entire river, cutting the Confederacy in two. -
Gettysburg Address
President Lincoln delivers the two-minute Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the National Cemetery at the battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. -
Lee Surrenders
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 -
President Lincoln shot and killed
Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.
