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Civil War Era 1860-1867

  • Jefferson Davis's Speech

    Senator of Mississippi, Jefferson Davis presented why slavery should be allowed in the territories; moreover, he also explained why the nation should be protecting slaveholders. Davis' intentions were to unite the Democratic parties.
  • Republican Convention is held in Chicago, Illinois.

    Lincoln wins on the third ballot. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, an outspoken, long-time abolitionist is chosen for vice-president.
  • Southern Democrats hold a convention in Richmond

    Here they select John C. Breckinridge as their nominee for President
  • Gov. William Henry warns Union

    Governor William Henry Gist notifies other Deep South states that South Carolina is considering secession as an option
  • Abe LIncoln elected

    Republican Abraham Lincoln wins the Presidential election with 39.7% of the vote, defeating Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge and John Bell.
  • Resignation

    James Chesnut becomes the first Southerner to resign from the Senate. He is quickly followed by James H. Hammond
  • First Wheeling Convention

    In Preston County, Western Virginia holds its first organizational meeting, expressing a desire to "adhere to the Union".
  • Fort Sumter

    Major Robert Anderson reports Fort Sumter is being threatened in Charleston as federal forces begin to improved Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter in the harbor.
  • Pres. Buchanan delivers his State of the Union message to Congress

  • South Carolina Seceeds

  • Mississippi Seceeds from the Union

  • Florida Seceeds from the Union

  • Alabama Seceeds from the Union

  • Georgia Seceeds from the Union

  • Kansas addmitted as 34th State

  • Confederates fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor

  • Battle at Philippi (now WV)

  • Battle at Big Bethel (VA)

  • Battle of Rich Mountain (now WV)

  • Battle of First Manassas (Bull Run)

  • Union soldiers take Roanoke Island (NC)

  • Confederates surrender Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River (TN)

  • Battle of Pea Ridge (AR)

  • First battle of Kernstown (VA)

  • Battle of Shiloh (TN)

  • New Orleans falls to Union naval forces under Farragut

  • Second battle of Manassas (Bull Run) (VA)

  • Battle of Antietam

  • Battle of Corinth (MS)

  • Battle of Fredericksburg

  • Emancipation Proclamation takes effect

  • Battle of Chancellorsvill

  • Stonewall Jackson dies

  • Battle of Champion's Hill (MS)

  • Battle of Brandy Station (VA)

  • Second Battle of Winchester

  • West Virginia admitted to Union as 35th state

  • West Virginia

    West Virginia becomes the 35th state to enter the United States, but the first to enter where the terms slave and free no longer mattered
  • Battle of Gettysburg

  • Lincoln delivers Gettysburg address

  • Battle at Sabine Crossroads (LA)

  • Battle of Spotsylvania (VA)

  • Battle of Yellow Tavern (VA)

  • Union troops occupy Atlanta

  • Battle of Fisher's Hill (VA)

  • Battle of Cedar Creek (VA)

  • Lincoln elected for second term

  • Sherman begins "March to the Sea"

  • Battle of Nashville

  • Savannah occupied by Union troops

  • Fort Fisher falls to Union forces

  • Columbia (SC) occupied by Union troops,

    burned
  • Charleston (SC) occupied by Union troops

  • Wilmington (NC) falls to Union troops

  • Lincoln inaugurated

  • Richmond falls, Confederate government evacuates

  • Lee surrenders at Appomattox CH

  • Lincoln shot at Ford's Theatre

  • Lincoln dies

  • Lincoln assassin Booth trapped and killed

  • Texas repeals the actions of the Secessionist Convention

  • Peace with the states

    The United States declares that a state of peace exists with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia
  • Disease

    Cholera epidemic begins in New York when an infected passenger arrives in New York.
  • 14Th amendment

    Thirty-ninth Congress approves the 14th Amendment to the Constitution
  • New Hampshire ratifies the 14th Amendment

  • Congress establishes "general of the armies"

    Ulysses S. Grant is immediately promoted to 4-star general and put in this position. William Tecumseh Sherman assumes the rank of Lt. General.
  • The U. S. Secret Service begins an investigation into the Ku Klux Klan

  • New Jersey ratifies the 14th Amendment

  • Tragedy

    A fire in the Philadelphia ship-yard accidently destroys a number of ships used during the Civil War
  • On the 6th anniversary of secession, South Carolina rejects the 14th Amendment

  • 14th amendment

    Blacks in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto
  • Nebraska becomes a state

  • Tenure of Office Act

    Congress passes the Tenure of Office Act, denying the right of the President to remove officials who had been appointed with the consent of Congress.
  • Federal army restores military rule to Mississippi

  • Racism

    Alexandria, Virginia rejects thousand of votes cast by Negroes, who were granted universal suffrage under the Reconstruction Act.
  • Nebraska ratifies the 14th Amendment

  • Massachusetts ratifies the 14th Amendment

  • Maryland rejects the 14th Amendment

  • Ulysses S. Grant becomes ad interim Secretary of War

  • Alaska

    Russia turns over Alaska to the United States