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Abraham Lincoln elected president
The Election of 1860 was a four way contest where Lincoln won the popular vote. Lincoln won majority of the votes from the North, and he wanted to save the union of the nation. -
South Carolina Secedes
South Carolina believed that Lincoln wanted to abolish slavery, so they seceded from the Union. -
Jefferson Davis | President of the Confederacy
Jefferson Davis was voted President of the Confederacy without opposition. He was voted for a six year term for the states that had seceded from the union, I.e. South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Alabama. -
Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter
Confederates wanted Fort Sumter to surrender, but they refused. So, the Confederate troops fired at Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Harbor. One day later, Fort Sumter surrendered. -
Anaconda Plan
A military strategy by the Union General Winfield Scott to cut off the supplies of the Confederates with a naval blockade where they divide their forces by taking control of the Mississippi River. -
Richmond becomes the Capital of the Confederacy
The Confederate Capital City is moved to Richmond, Virginia because Virginia was now a Confederate state; and because of the recognition of Virginia's strategic importance. -
Battle of Gettysburg
A three-day battle between Union and Confederate forces . -
First Battle of Bull Run is fought
This was the first land battle of the Civil War that was fought only 30 miles from Washington. The Confederates won. -
The Merrimack and the Monitor fight of the Virginia coast
This was the first Battle between ironclad warships; and while the battle was inconclusive, the Monitor's actions stopped the wipe out of the Union navy. The Merrimack, the Confederate ship that attacked several Union ships before sailing into Hampton Roads, VA. The Monitor, the Union ship, fought against it in a four hour battle. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, aka the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing, was one of the deadliest battles of the war. It took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was a part of the war's Western Theater. The Confederate troops ambushed a Union Camp, and the Union was saved by backup troops, forcing the Confederates to retreat/flee. -
Robert E. Lee is named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
Robert E. Lee was given command of the Army of Northern Virginia, which was the main Confederate army in the eastern theater of the war. Lee commenced a series of counterattacks at the Seven Days Battle that drove the Union away from the Confederate capital after they camped at the gates of Richmond. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam, aka Battle of Sharpsburg, was pitted by Union General George McClellan's Army of the Potomac against General Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. -
Lincoln suspends habeas corpus
President Lincoln provisioned the Presidential Proclamation 94, which suspended the "writ of habeas corpus". -
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg had about 200,000 combatants, making it one of the largest and deadliest battles of the Civil War. The Confederate won, with about 6,000 casualties. The Union lost 12,500 men. -
Emancipation Proclamation is announced
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation at the approach of the nation's third year of the Civil War. All the slaves in the Confederacy were freed, more than 3.5 million slaves were freed. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was, considered, the greatest victory of Robert E. Lee. The Confederates won despite being outnumbered. -
Confederates surrender at Vicksburg
The Confederates were hit with two assaults, ending in a lot of death and injuries; they surrendered because they had run out of supplies. -
New York City Draft Riots
Lincoln passed a draft law that said all male citizens 20-25 and all unmarried men 35-45 needed to serve in the military. New York did not like this draft law and rioted since it targeted mostly Black people and/or anti-slavery whites. -
54th Massachusetts fighting a Second Battle of Ft. Wagner
The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment was an all-black infantry that attacked Fort Wagner. The all-Black volunteer regiment first experienced combat only two days prior in a comparatively minor skirmish. -
Congress passes the 13th Amendment
This amendment abolished slavery in the United States, following the Emancipation Proclamation by making slavery illegal everywhere, by the matter of law. -
The Battle of the Crater
The Battle of the Crater took place during the American Civil War, part of the Siege of Petersburgh. It was a battle where the Union's strategy was to dig a trench and use gunpowder to breach the front lines of the Southern army. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was commanded by General Robert E. Lee, and the Union Army of the Potomac was commanded by Major General George G. Meade. -
Atlanta is captured
Union General William T. Sherman's troops at Atlanta were repulsed with heavy losses. Hood and Sherman continued to battle for the crucial Confederate city throughout the summer until Hood was finally forced to abandon Atlanta to Union forces on September 1, 1864. -
Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election
Towards the end of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln of the National Union Party easily defeated the Democratic nominee, former General George B. McClellan, by a wide margin of 212–21 in the electoral college, with 55% of the popular vote. -
Sherman begins his March to the Sea
The Union General Sherman led 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile March from Atlanta to Savannah, GA. It was the most destructive campaign against a civilian population during the Civil War. -
Congress passes the 13th Amendment
Only through the Thirteenth Amendment did emancipation become national policy. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, and by the House on January 31, 1865. The joint resolution of both bodies that submitted the amendment to the states for approval was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on February 1, 1865. -
Freedmen's Bureau is created
The Freedmen's Bureau was created to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, this included newly freed African Americans. -
Lincoln gives his second inaugural address
President Lincoln gives his Second Inaugural Address, and in it, a re-elected President Abraham Lincoln wanted to unify the broken nation. -
Richmond falls to the Union Army
Richmond was the Capital of the south, making it equally as important to the Union, since it's capture would signal the end of the Confederacy. General Grant had pushed his troops along the Petersburg line and defeated the Southern Army. Richmond fell when Lt. General Grant attacked Five Forks to cut Lee's last remaining supply line. -
Appomattox Court House--Surrender of Lee’s forces
The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought in Virginia was one of the last battles of the American Civil War. -
President Lincoln assassinated
President Lincoln was assassinated in the theater in D.C. -
John Wilkes Booth is killed
John Wilkes Booth, an American stage actor, assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. -
Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address
Lincoln gave a speech at the dedication of Soldiers National Cemetery, in Gettysburg, PA. Which was where a deadly three-day battle was, in which 3,500 Union soldiers died.