-
Battle of Fort Sumter
The people in Charleston were angry that the Union soldiers had taken the fort. They wanted to remove the Union soldiers from the Southern soil. At 4:30 AM, April 12, 1861, the Confederates began firing up at Fort Sumter. The Civil War had officially begun. The attack at the fort lasted 34 hours. The Union fired back, but eventually forced to surrender and the Confederates won. Surprisingly, no soldier on either side was killed in the battle. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest day in U.S. military history. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate armies were stopped at Antietam in Maryland by McClellan and numerically superior Union forces. By nightfall, there were 26,000 dead and wounded. That makes this the bloodiest day in American history. Lee then withdraws to Virginia. The Union had won the battle. The victory at Antietam resulted in President Abraham Lincoln issued his Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
5 days after the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The document stated that on January 1, 1863, all the people who were enslaved in the Confederacy, were freed (emancipated). Though, it did not apply to the slave states that stayed in the Union. Like Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland. -
Battle of Gettysburg
In 1863, General Robert E. Lee's army had defeated the Union in various battles. On July 1, 1863, Lee's army met the Union troops in a small farm town in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. No side planned to fight. For 3 days, the armies fought. No side won. There were 51,000 soldiers killed or wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. It was the bloodiest battle fought in North America. Union succeeds at Gettysburg. Later, Vicksburg turned the war from the North. This is known as the turning point in war. -
Battle of Vicksburg
Vicksburg was the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, and soon surrenders to Gen after Grant and the Army of the West after a 6 week siege. With the Union now in control f the Mississippi, the Confederacy is effectively split in 2, cutt off from western allies. -
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address was speech by Lincoln on November 19, 1863, in dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery, a cemetery for the Union soldiers during the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War. The address inspired the soldiers to keep fighting. The speech made it quite clear that the a united nation and the end of slavery was worth fighting for. -
Appomattox Courthouse (2nd Part)
On May 1865, the remaining Confederates surrendered. The nation is reunited as the war ends. Over 620,000 Americans died in the war, with disease killing twice as those lost in battle. 50,000 survivors returned home as amputees. -
The Thirteenth Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by congress on January 31, 1865 is finally ratified. Slavery is officially abolished. -
Appomattox Courthouse
On November 8, 1864, voters decided to re-elect Abraham Lincoln. On March 1865, Grant was closing in on Lee at Petersburg. After the Union siege, Confederate soldiers defending the city were close to starvation. On April 2, Lee took his army west, hoping to find food and gather more troops. Turns out, Petersburg fell. The next day, Richmond fell, the Confederate capitol also fell. The war was over :D. On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia
