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The Kansas-Nebraska Act is signed into law
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U.S. Marines storm engine house at Harpers Ferry and capture John Brown
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Abraham Lincoln elected 16th President of the United States
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South Carolina adopts an Ordinance of Secession
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South Carolina troops seize Fort Johnson in Charleston Harbor
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Jefferson Davis elected provisional Confederate President
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Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th President of the United States of America
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The Confederates in Charleston bombard Fort Sumter
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President Lincoln declares a blockade of Southern ports
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Robert E. Lee accepts command of Virginia forces
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Lincoln calls for volunteers to join the Union Army for a three-year term
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Zouave leader Elmer Ellsworth killed in Alexandria by James W. Jackson
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P.G.T. Beauregard takes command of Confederate forces in northern Virginia
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Engagement at Carthage, Missouri
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Ulysses S. Grant promoted to brigadier general
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President Lincoln signs the Revenue Act of 1861 into law, creating the first national income tax in American history
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Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House
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Abraham Lincoln is shot at Ford's Theatre
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Skirmish at Palmito Ranch, Texas - the last engagement of the Civil War
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War criminal Henry Wirz hanged