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Republican Party is Formed
The Republican Party was founded in Ripon, Wisconsin on March 20 of 1854. Former Whig Party members assembled to create a new party to oppose the spread of slavery westward. Republicans had many supporters in the north, not the south. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president. When he was elected, southern states threatened secession because of Lincoln's party and anti-slavery beliefs. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act Passed
The Kansas-Nebraska act revoked the Missouri Compromise. It created two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska, which allowed for "popular sovereignty". The Missouri Compromise declared slavery illegal in the areas that it covered, so by getting rid of that and creating two new territories, people could vote about slavery. However, this act eventually failed to end the nationwide conflict of slavery. It also produced a violent uprising called Bleeding Kansas. -
South Carolina Votes to Secede from the U.S.
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union. They were angered by President Lincoln's inauguration and threat to their "right" to possess slaves. The secession of South Carolina triggered the secession of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, and North Carolina also threatened to secede because of the anti-slave issue that they felt Lincoln had brought upon them. -
Confederate Forces Fire on Fort Sumter
From April 12th to 14th, Fort Sumter located in Charleston, South Carolina, was hit with over 3,300 shells and canons. Confederate troops had marched to the fort and began their 34-hour bombardment. They left the top level of the fort "a wreck" and the bottom level covered in shell craters. This fort was targeted because South Carolina had decided to secede from the Union and the US Army was in their state at this base. The Battle of Fort Sumter is considered the first battle of the Civil War. -
Lincoln Suspends Habeas Corpus
President Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus on April 27th of 1861. By suspending it, commanders could arrest and detain individuals who were declared a threat to military operations. Habeas Corpus said that any person who is being detained has the right to a trial so that "the legality of that person's detention" can be assessed. -
Richmond Becomes the Capital of the Confederacy
On May 8 of 1861, Richmond was declared the new capital of the Confederacy. It was previously Montgomery, Alabama. Once Virginia had officially seceded, the Confederacy decided it would be the better state to hold the capital in because Virginia had a new growing Confederate identity and Richmond was the second largest city in the South. -
First Battle of Bull Run
On July 21 of 1861, Union and Confederate armies fought in Prince William County, Virginia, near Manassas Junction, Virginia. 35,000 Union troops marched from the capital, Washington, D.C., and attacked a Confederate force of 20,000 along a small river known as Bull Run. -
Jefferson Davis Elected President of the Confederacy
Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederacy in November of 1861, and was unanimously voted in. He opposed the secession of the south. He was a celebrated veteran of the Mexican War, he was secretary of war under Franklin Pierce, and was a longtime U.S. senator. An interesting fact about him is that his first wife Sarah Knox was the daughter of U.S. President Zachary Taylor. -
Battle of the Monitor and Merrimac
The Battle of the Monitor and Merrimac was also known as the Battle of Hampton Roads. It was a naval fight that took place at the Hampton Roads Harbor by the James River in Virginia. It was important because it is said to be the first battle between ironclad warships in history.The Ironclad ships were the USS Monitor and the USS Merrimac. The Confederate ship destroyed two Union ships, the Cumberland and the Congress, while barely having any damage to itself. Confederate victory. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh was also known as the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing. It was a "crucial victory" for the Union. The battle lasted from April 6th to 7th of 1862. It was an early battle fought in the "Western Theater" (major military operations across 10 states). It was fought in Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee. -
Robert E. Lee Commands the Army of North Virginia
The Army of North Virginia was the primary, major military force of the Confederate States of America. Robert E. Lee was a slave owner and a general who attended West Point. He was born into a powerful Virginian family and actually married the great-granddaughter of First Lady Martha Washington. Lee excelled in school and the military academy and was made commander of the main Confederate Army on June 1, 1862. He ultimately commanded all the Confederate armies and became a symbol of the south. -
Emancipation Proclamation is Announced
President Abe Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in the third year of his second term and just a few months from the third year of the Civil War. The Proclamation deemed that all enslaved persons in the rebellious Confederate states "are, and henceforth shall be free". President Lincoln was trying to get rid of slavery as well as bring the rebellious southern states back to the union. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville lasted from April 30th to May 6th of 1863 in Spotsylvania Country, Virginia. This battle was a big victory for the Confederate side and General Robert E. Lee. This was the battle in which Confederate General Thomas Stonewall Jackson was mortally injured. The Confederates stopped Union Maj. General Joseph Hooker's Army from making a flanking movement against the Confederates. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg lasted from July 1 to July 3 of 1863. It created mass casualties on both sides, Confederate and Union. The Battle of Gettysburg is considered the turning point of the civil war because it was the bloodiest battle of the war and the North gained advantage over the Confederate States. An advantage that the Confederate States couldn't overcome. -
Confederates Surrender at Vicksburg
The fall of Vicksburg caused the Confederate Army to surrender because they lost control of the Mississippi River, so couldn't get any supplies or reinforcements. The Union Army had about 44,000 more soldiers fighting than the Confederate Army did, so the battle of Vicksburg was a presumed loss for the rebels. General Pemberton from the Confederate side met with Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to surrender. -
New York City Draft Riots
The New York City Draft Riots or Manhattan Draft Riots were violent uprisings in lower Manhattan. They were caused by angry working-class New Yorkers over a new federal draft law. These five days are considered the bloodiest and most destructive riots in U.S. history. -
Lincoln Gives Gettysburg Address
The Battle of Gettysburg was considered "the turning point" in the Civil War because it gave the Union the upper-hand. However, it was an extremely bloody battle and yielded many casualties for both sides. Lincoln felt that he needed to deliver this speech to pay tribute to the brave men that died in battle. It's actually considered one of the greatest political speeches of all time and reminded Americans what they were fighting for and that they needed to persevere and persist. -
Atlanta is Captured
Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman captured the city of Atlanta, Georgia. This was a big deal for the Union because Atlanta was a "Confederate hub". Gen. Sherman "shelled" citizens and cut off supply lines as he captured the city. The Confederates were forced to retreat but destroyed the city's munitions as they left so that the Union didn't take them. -
Abraham Lincoln Re-elected
On November 8th of 1864, President Abraham Lincoln beat George McClellan in the run for re-election. Lincoln represented the National Union Party while McClellan ran for the Democratic Party. Lincoln won by a great majority in the electoral college: 212-21. But only one 55% popular vote. This seems like just enough but it was actually a big deal because the country was split half pro-slavery and half anti, and Abe represented anti-slavery. -
Sherman Begins his march to the Sea
Union General William T. Sherman led his 60,000 soldiers on a 285 mile march from Atlanta George to Savannah, from November 15th to December 21st of 1864. Gen. The March to the Sea was considered the most destructive campaign against a civilian population during the Civil War. Sherman and his men stole food and livestock and burned the houses and barns of those who tried to fight back against him. His goal was to frighten the people of Georgia into "abandoning the Confederate cause". -
Congress Passed the 13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment of the United States was passed on January 31st of 1865 and ratified on December 6th of that same year. The 13th Amendment finally abolished slavery. It declared that, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." -
Freedmen's Bureau is Created
Congress passed “An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees”. The goal was to provide clothing, food, shelter, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners. This also including newly freed African Americans. -
President Lincoln Gives his 2nd Inaugural Address
President Lincoln gave his second Inaugural Address on March 4 of 1865. He urged his war-weary nation and people to "bind up the nation's wounds". The wounds that were caused by the Civil War which separated the country. He wanted his people to create peace within the nation once again and not live divided. -
Richmond Falls to the Union Army
Richmond fell to the Union Army on the morning of April 2nd, 1865. Confederate forces near Petersburg finally broke after a nine month battle. The Confederates retreated and left their capital of Richmond open for the Union to march into and take. -
Robert E. Lee Surrenders at Appomattox
Lee decided to surrender his army to prevent further destruction of the south and unnecessary lives continuing to be lost. This was because the Union had the upper hand in the end and there was really nothing more the Confederates could do, Lee knew. Gen. Lee surrendered in the Appomattox Court House in Virginia. He surrendered his 28,000 Confederate troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, ending the Civil War. -
President Lincoln was Assassinated
President Lincoln was shot on Good Friday while attending a play at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C. by stage actor John Wilkes Booth. He was shot directly in the head. He didn't die straight away, but passed the next morning in the Peterson House across the way from the theater. President Lincoln was the first United States president to be assassinated. -
John Wilkes Booth is Killed
John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin, was killed on April 26 of 1865, just eleven days after President Lincoln died. Union soldiers tracked him down and found the murderer at a farm in Virginia. Booth was actually one of the most famous actors in America at the time. He was hunted down in a barn and would not come out or surrender when the barn was set in flames. He was shot and killed by Corporal Boston Corbett in the burning barn. His accomplice David Herold surrendered and was later hanged.