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Lincoln is elected president
Abraham Lincoln was a republican from Illinois. He wanted to stop slavery from expanding west. In the election of 1860, Lincoln won the election, and had more electoral votes and more popular votes than any candidate. Since the race had four main candidates, it allowed Lincoln to get more electoral votes than he would otherwise. -
Confederate States of America is formed
The secession of South Carolina in 1861 was followed by the secession of six more southern states. These eleven states eventually formed the Confederate States of America. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
On April 12, 1861, the Confederate States of America attacked the U.S. military garrison at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Less than two days later, the fort surrendered. No one was killed, but the battle started the Civil War, the bloodiest war in American history. -
President Lincoln declares a blockade of Southern ports
President Abraham Lincoln announced the establishment of a Union blockade of Confederate ports. The purpose of the blockade was to prevent the import of essential supplies, as well as the export of cash crops, into and out of the Confederacy. -
First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)
The battle of bull run was the first major battle in the civil war. The end result of the battle was a Confederate victory and Federal forces retreated to the defenses of Washington, DC. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh was a crucial success for the Union Army. -
Battle of Antietam
Most importantly, Union victory at Antietam provided President Abraham Lincoln the opportunity he had wanted to announce the Emancipation Proclamation, making the Battle of Antietam one of the key turning points of the American Civil War. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of the civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
Battle of Gettysburg
The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point. -
Gettysburg address
President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address to commemorate a new national cemetery at Gettysburg during the American Civil War. This shows how strongly Lincoln feels about the men who have sacrificed their lives in the war. -
Sherman’s March to the Sea
A movement of the Union army troops of General William Tecumseh Sherman from Atlanta, Georgia, to the Georgia seacoast, with the object of destroying Confederate supplies. The march began after Sherman captured, evacuated, and burned Atlanta in the fall of 1864. -
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
The main point of Lincoln's second inaugural address was to claim that both the South and North had to share some of the blame for the sin of slavery. Lincoln expressed the tone for reconstruction and commonly used the term "we" to unify the people of the North and South when it came to the means of reunification. -
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
The Battle of Appomattox Court House was fought near the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, and led to Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender of his Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. -
Lincolns assassination
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by well known stage actor John Wilkes Booth, while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. -
13th amendment
The 13th amendment abolished slavery in the US.