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Abe Lincoln speaks at Cooper Union
Lincoln delivered his famous speech at Cooper Union, explaining his position on slavery and wowing New Yorkers who were not so familiar with the Republican candidate from the Midwest. -
Pre-emption bill is passed
This gave squatters the right to buy westward land at a very cheap price. -
The Pony Express Begins
Mail between Sacramento, California and St. Joseph's, Missouri is carried over the Oregon Trail by a series of riders on horseback. Service no longer needed when the transcontinental telegraph is invented. -
Democrats divided
The democratic convention in Charleston SC divided over slavery -
Stonewall Jackson commands Harpers Ferry
Thomas Jonathan Jackson is assigned to command Harpers Ferry, the target of an assault by an armed group of abolitionists -
Abraham Lincoln selected as Republican Canditae
The republican convention selects Abraham Lincoln as candidate -
Abe Lincoln Elected president
Abraham Lincoln is elected president, the first Republican, receiving 180 of 303 possible electoral votes and 40 percent of the popular vote. -
South Carolina Secedes
South Carolina secedes from the Union. Paves the road for other states to follow. -
Anderson Moves to Fort Sumter
Major Robert Anderson gathers his small army at Fort Sumter -
Harriet Tubman arrives in Auburn, NY
Harriet Tubman arrives in Auburn New York, on her last mission to free slaves, having evaded capture for 8 years on the Underground Railroad -
Lincoln declares slavery unlwaful
President-elect of the United States Abraham Lincoln declares slavery in Confederate states unlawful. -
Troops sent to Fort Sumter
250 Federal troops are sent from New York to Ft Sumter -
Mississippi secedes
Mississippi is the 2nd state to secede from the union -
Florida secedes
Florida is the 3rd state to secede from the union. -
Alabama secedes
Alabama is the 4th state to secede from the union -
Georgia secedes
Georgia is the 5th state to secede from the union. -
Louisiana seceds
Louisiana is the 6th state to secede from the union -
Texas Secedes
Texas is the 7th states to secede from the union -
Lincoln Inaugurated
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the sixteenth President of the United States. In his Inaugural Address he gives a stark warning to the South: he will not tolerate secession -
Virginia Seceds
Virginia is the 8th state to secede from the union -
Arkansas secedes
Arkansas is the 9th state to secede -
North Carolina secedes
North Carolina is the 10th state to secede -
Tennessee secedes
Tennessee is the 11th and final state to seced from the union -
First Battle of Bull Run
The First Battle of Bull Run puts Union General Irvin McDowell against the new Confederate army. McDowell is defeated causing a panicked retreat back to Washington, which is about forty miles away. The withdrawal is hampered by the large numbers of spectators who are there to see the battle. -
Monitor vs. Merrimack
The Confederate battleship USS Merrimack battles the Union battleship USS Monitor in Chesapeake Bay. This makes wooden battleships look obsolete and changes the Navy forever -
Battle of Shiloh
Union General Ulysses S. Grant's forces are surprised at the town of Shiloh in Tennessee. The battle results in 13,000 Union and 10,000 Confederate casualties, more than in all previous American wars combined. -
New Orleans is captured
New Orleans falls to Union forces during US Civil War -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act becomes law which provides cheap land for the settlement of the American West -
Robert E. Lee become commander
General Robert E. Lee assumes command of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia -
Second Battle of Bull Run
The Second Battle of Bull Run is a resounding victory for Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Union General John Pope is blamed for the loss and is relieved of his duties after the battle -
Antietam
The Battle of Antietam is the bloodiest day in United States history. Over 26,000 men are killed, wounded or missing in action on both sides. Though officially a draw, the battle stops General Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland and he retreats back to Virginia. -
Emancipation Proclomation introduced
Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which would declare his intention to free all slaves in any new territory captured by the Union Army. -
Romney Expedition
Confederate forces under Stonewall Jackson launch a campaign to capture Union-controlled Romney, Virginia -
Fredricksburg
The Union army under General Burnside suffers a loss of 13,00 casualties and a big loss at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia. -
Emancipation Proclamation Put Into Effect
The Emancipation Proclamation officially frees all slaves in territory captured by the Union Army, and orders the enlistment of black soldiers. From this point forward, the Civil War is a war over slavery. -
Military Draft
The first draft in American history, required every man to serve in the army unless he can furnish a substitute or pay the government $300. -
Chancellorsville
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. The North suffers 17,000 casualties, the South 13,000. -
Stonewall Jackson's Death
Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson dies from wounds sustained when he was mistakenly shot by his own troops at Chancellorsville. -
Gettysburg
From July 1 to July 4, 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. -
Pickett's Charge
On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee orders General George Pickett to assault entrenched Union positions. In what would become known as "Pickett's Charge." More than half of the 12,000 Confederate soldiers who participate in the charge are slaughtered as they walk slowly across a 3/4-mile field into a hail of gunfire. -
Vicksburg
General Ulysses S. Grant takes Vicksburg after a long battle. At this point, the Union controls the entire Mississippi River, cutting the Confederacy in two -
Draft Riots
Riots break out over the draft in New York and other northern cities. In New York, 120 men, women and children—mostly black—are killed before Union troops returning from Gettysburg. -
Battle of Chickamauga
The Confederacy defeats the Union at the Battle of Chickamauga, in Tennessee. -
Gettysburg Adress
Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address, which dedicates the National Cemetery at the battlefield in Gettysburg, PA. -
Grant takes Command
Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant commander of all Union armies, ending his long search for a decent general to command northern forces -
Virginia Campaign
Ulysses S. Grant and 120,000 troops march south towards Richmond, the Confederate capital. Over the course of the next six weeks nearly 50,000 Union soldiers die. -
Battle of the Wilderness
During the horrific Battle of the Wilderness, thousands of men burn to death as the woods in which they were fighting catch fire. -
Battle of Spotsylvania
Grant attacks Robert E. Lee's Confederate forces at Spotsylvania. Grant loses more soldiers than Lee. Still, General Lee is forced to retreat south. -
Battle of Cold Harbor
The Battle of Cold Harbor is a disaster for the union. Grant makes a series of mistakes that leads to the death of 7,000 soldier in 20 minutes -
Siege of Petersburg
The Siege of Petersburg ended the previous mobile war and began a 9-moth siege -
Troops die in Train Crash
Troop train loaded with Confederate prisoners collided with a coal train killing 65 & injuring 109 of 955 aboard -
Lincoln looks for Reinforcments
President Lincoln request 500,000 volunteers to help fight the war -
Battle of Mobile Bay
Union Admiral David Farragut led his troops through the Confederate defenses at Mobile, Alabama, to seal one of the last major Southern ports. -
Burning of Atlanta
Union General William T. Sherman captures and burns Atlanta during US Civil War -
13th Amendment ends slavery
The United States Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which will abolish slavery. -
Lee take Command
General Robert E. Lee named Commander-in-Chief of Confederate Armies during US Civil War -
Columbia Up in Flames
Columbia, South Carolina burns down during the Civil War -
Lincoln's 2nd Inaugaration
Lincoln is sworn in for his second term as President of the United States. -
Siege of Petersburg Ends
The Siege of Petersburg ends as Ulysses S. Grant's army breaks through Confederate lines and marches towards Richmond. -
Richmond Falls
The Union Army captures Richmond, Virginia, which is nearly leveled by shelling and fire. -
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. -
Lincoln gets murked
Licoln get shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington -
SS Sultana explodes
Steamboat "SS Sultana" explodes in the Mississippi River, killing up to 1,800 of the 2,427 passengers, most of them Union POWs on their way home -
13th Amendment Ratified
The 13th Amendment is ratified by the United States. Outlawing slavery in its entirety -
KKK Founded
In Pulaski, Tennessee, a group of Confederate veterans convenes to form a secret society that they christen the Ku Klux Klan. -
The Liberator
The last issue of the Liberator (an abolitionist new paper) is published. The newspaper has now becomes unnecessary because the slaves have been freed. -
Memphis Riots
Beginning with an altercation between white policemen and black Union soldiers, everything erupts into violence. Black neighborhoods are ravaged as white civilians and police alike look for vengeance. Federal troops are able to end fighting on May 3rd. -
Winfield Scott's death
Winfield Scott dies at West Point. -
Fourteenth Amendment
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States [regardless of color]...are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." -
Tennessee readmitted
Following the Civil War Tennessee becomes the first state readmitted to the Union. -
General of The Army
Congress passes the legislation making General of the Army a rank. Ulysses S. Grant is the first to hold that title. -
New Orleans Race Riots
Starting with African Americans protesting outside a Louisiana Conventional Convention for better voting rights ended in a race riot. The conflict was started when Mayor Monroe organized a group of ex-Confederate soldiers to attack the protestors. -
Presidential Proclomation
Andrew Johnson wrote and signed this document after fighting in Texas had ceased. It assured the American public that civil order had been restored to America and that the United States was whole again. -
Douglass becomes First Black Delegate
Frederick Douglass becomes the first black delegate at a convention. His personal narrative also exposed Americans to the brutal practices of slavery. -
House of Representatives Election
The Republican Party wins in a landslide. This will make President Johnson's job harder as Congress is mostly composed of Radical Republicans who are at odds with the president regarding Reconstruction in the South. -
Black Voting Rights
In Washington D.C., Congress allows African American men to vote despite the veto from President Johnson. -
Peabody Fund
Started by George Peabody, the purpose of the fund was to provide education to the poorest regions of the South. It's reasoning for being started was largely the destruction that had been caused during the Civil War and would only benefit white children. -
Department of Education
United States Congress creates the Department of Education in order to collect information and statistics from schools. -
First Reconstruction Act Approved
This act would aim to keep Southern states under control. The purpose of the first act was to split the ten Southern states into five military districts. -
Second Reconstruction Act Passed
Expanding on the first, it placed military commanders to act as governors over the five districts. It also required that office holders in the South had to recite an oath as well as changes to voting. This was meant to make it harder for ex-Confederates to have less of an impact in the government. -
Lincoln Memorial Approved
Congress approves the building of the Lincoln Memorial, which honors the significant president -
USA Purchases Alaska
In a deal that was stalled by the Civil War, the U.S. buys Alaska from Russia for the price of $7,200,000 or 2 cents per acre. -
Third Reconstruction Act Passed
Giving supreme control to the five Union generals in control of the districts.These generals were given ultimate power as they could remove any officiafrom office if they were thought to have been hampering with the process of Reconstruction. These acts will push Southern citizens over the edge who will result to violence through the Ku Klux Klan. -
Johnson Suspends Stanton
President Johnson suspends Secretary of War Edward Stanton regarding policies about Reconstruction in the South. -
Black University
With the help of Congress the first all African American college is created in Washington D.C. named Howard U.
