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Compromise of 1850
The compromise of 1850 admitted California as a free state , organized New Mexico and Utah. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was an 1854 bill that mandated "popular sovereignty"-allowing settlers of a territory to decide whether slavery would be allowed within a new state's borders. -
Dred Scott Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that slaves were not citizens, that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, and that Dred Scott, although he had once resided in a free state, would remain a slave. -
Secession Begins
The withdrawal of eleven Southern states from the Union in 1860 which precipitated the American Civil War. South Carolina becomes the first Southern state to secede from the Union. -
Fort Sumter attacked
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the first battle of the American Civil War. -
Battle of Bull Run
1861 Battle of Manassas; first major battle of the Civil War, resulting in a Confederate victory. -
Battle of Antietam
The battle of Antietam was one of the bloodiest battles in the war resulting in 25,000 casualties. -
Emancipation Proclamation
An emancipation issued by president Abraham Lincoln; it declared that "all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." -
Transcontinental Railroad
America’s first steam locomotive made its debut in 1830, and over the next two decades railroad tracks linked many cities on the East Coast. In 1863 One of the most important railroads in the country began construction. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was the largest battle of the American Civil War as well as the largest battle ever fought in North America, involving around 85,000 men in the Union’s Army. -
Wide- Davis Bill
One of the most important railroads in the country began construction. It was passed, and readmitted all of the southern states. -
Shermans march to sea
Led by General William T. Sherman, 60,000 northern troops swarmed over the Georgia countryside south of Atlanta, consuming and/or destroying everything in their path; operations concluded at Savannah, Georgia, on the Atlantic coast; Union victory. -
Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox
In April 1865 General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant bringing an end to the Civil War after four years of battle. -
Abraham Lincolns assassination
Abe Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth -
13th amendment takes effect
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery. -
14th Amendment takes effect
The 14th Amendment granted birth right citizenship to anyone born in the United States. -
15th Amendment takes effect
The 15th Amendment granted universal suffrage to any citizen regardless of race and or color
