Unit 9 timeline.

John Brown developed a plan to secretly invade the South, call upon the slaves to rise and rebel, give the slaves weapons, and establish a black free state. In October 1859, he seized the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry. Because many of his supporters failed to show up, he was caught and sent to death by hanging. When Brown died, he lived on as a martyr to the abolitionist cause.

The Republican Party met in Chicago and nominated Abraham Lincoln as their presidential candidate. The Southerners said that if Abraham Lincoln was elected as President, the Union would split. Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860, but he did not win with the popular vote. 60% of the nation voted for another candidate. 10 southern states didn't even allow Lincoln to appear on the ballot. South Carolina was happy because it now had a reason to secede.

The Trent affair occurred in late 1861. A Union warship stopped a British mail steamer, the Trent, and removed 2 Confederate diplomats who were heading to Europe. Britain started to send troops to Canada in retaliation, but the situation was resolved when President Lincoln freed the Confederate prisoners.

In 1861, General George B. McClellan was given command of the Army of the Potomac. McClellan's army launched a waterborne attack in the spring of 1862 that moved towards Richmond. He came to within sight of Richmond and attacked "Stonewall" Jackson. General Robert E. Lee launched a counterattack against the Union forces, known as the Seven Days' Battles, from June 26 to July 2, 1862 and drove McClellan's forces back to the sea.

In the Second Battle of Bull Run (August 29-30, 1862), General Lee defeated General Pope's Union forces. As Lee moved into Maryland, he met McClellan's forces again at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. McClellan managed to halt Lee's forces after his forces discovered Lee's battle plans. Antietam provided Lincoln with the military backing to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln now made the Civil War a war to end slavery.

The Washington Treasury issued paper money. The greenback currency was not backed by gold; it was backed by the Union's perceived credit. Because of this, the value of the greenback was constantly changing. In 1863, Congress authorized the National Banking System. It was designed to stimulate the sale of government bonds and to establish a standard currency. Banks who joined the National Banking System could buy government bonds and issue paper money that was backed by the bonds.