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Abraham Lincoln Elected President
Lincoln becomes the newest President of the United States, and the first republican President. He recieved 180 of 303 possible electoral votes and 40 percent of the popular vote. -
South Carolina Secedes
South Carolina becomes the first state to leave the union. . Followed within two months by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. -
Jefferson Davis becomes President of the Confederate States
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Attack on Fort Sumter
History Channel: Fort SumterAt 4:30 a.m. Confederates under Gen. Pierre Beauregard open fire with 50 cannons upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War begins. -
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American Civil War
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Death of Lincoln's Son
President Lincoln is struck with grief as his beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, dies from fever, probably caused by polluted drinking water in the White House. -
Battle of Antietam
The bloodiest day in U.S. military history as Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan and numerically superior Union forces. By nightfall 26,000 men are dead, wounded, or missing. Lee then withdraws to Virginia. -
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Battle of Gettysburg
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Lincoln Delivers Famed Gettysburg Address
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13th Amendment Ratified
The U.S. Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, to abolish slavery. The amendment is then submitted to the states for ratification. -
General Lee Surrenders
Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia. The war is all but over.
