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Republican Party is formed
The Republican part was created in Wisconsin when a meeting of ex-Whigs with anti-slavery has a meeting. In this meeting they created the Republican party, a party against the expansion of slavery. The Republican party quickly gained popularity throughout the North. The first Republican Candide in the 1856 election won 11 out of the 16 states in the North. And the second Candidate Abraham Lincoln won the election on 1860. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act passed
Kansas-Nebraska Act was created by Senator Stephen Douglass. This act gave the people the choice of the allowing slavery in the new territories or not. The act was eventually passed and what is known as popular sovereignty was used for the first time. -
Abraham Lincoln elected president
The 16th president of the United States was Abraham Lincoln, he was the first Republican to with the to presidency with 40% of the popular vote. Lincolns's beliefs of preventing slavery from expanding into new states lead to the succession of 7 states before his inauguration on March 4, 1861. -
South Carolina Secedes From the Union
When Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860, citizens in South Carolina started to complain. The legislators in South Carolina noticed this and decided that it would be in the states best interest to leave the Union. The legislators believed that Abraham Lincoln was hostile towards the state and violated their beliefs. -
Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter
At 4:30 am confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter, a Union fort in the Confederate territory of Charleston's Harbor South Carolina. The confederates were triggered to attack the fort after Lincoln was elected and many states started to secede. The attack of Fort Sumter is known as the start of the civil war. -
Lincoln suspends habeas corpus
Lincoln feared that the southern slave supporting rebels in Maryland would turn Maryland( the home state of D.C.) into a Confederate state. To prevent this from happening Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus from D.C. to Philadelphia to allow the military to arrest rebels without giving them a reason to. Although Lincoln did not have the power to do this as president, he justified it in the Senate by stating, "when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it." -
Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy
Shortly after Virginia seceded from the Union, the capital of the Confederacy was moved from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia. The point of moving the capital to Virginia was to motivate the citizens in Virginia to fight for the confederacy. Virginia was also a very developed city that played a big role in the revolutionary war. -
First Battle of Bull Run is fought
The battle took place only 30 miles away from Washington D.C. on a hill called Henry Hill. The battle became known as the Picnic battle because many civilians around the area and the U.S. senators watched the battle. The war was early in the civil war and was expected do be an easy Union win. Unfortunately, the confederates received lots of reinforcements causing the Union to retreat. This battle stunned the Senators and showed the North that the battle would be much longer than they thought. -
Jefferson Davis Elected Confederate President
Jefferson Davis, a graduate from the U.S. West Point military school was elected the Confederate President on November 6, 1861 for a six year term. Jefferson Davis didn't want to be president initially but was still elected and inaugurated on February 22, 1861. -
The Merrimack and the Monitor fight of the Virginia coast
The Battle of Merrimack was a naval battle off the Virginia coast, it was the first ironclad Naval battle. The Merrimack was a Union ship that was salvaged by the Confederates and renamed Virginia. Virginia destroyed several wooden Union ships the day before the naval battle. The day of the battle many Union and Confederates gathered at docks to watch the battle. Both the ships had inexperienced crew members and the ships were both damaged. The battle was a draw. -
Battle of Shiloh
The battle of Shiloh was a Union victory that further pushed the North into Tennessee. On April 6, Ulysses Grant was caught off guard in Pittsburgh and was forced to retreat back into a defensive position. Ulysses Grant received soldier over night and planned an attack in the morning. On April 7, Grant attacked the Confederates pushing them back to their lines. The battle was extremely bloody, it ended in a stalemate but was a Union victory. -
Robert E. Lee is named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
On June 1, 1862, one of the best General in the U.S. Robert E. Lee became the commander of the Northern Virginia confederate army. Robert E. Lee was given the option to be the Military General of the Union army but declined the offer because his home state voted for secession. -
Battle of Antietam
The battle took place in the Northern territory of Maryland and is known as the bloodiest single day battle in U.S. history. Robert E. Lee led his Confederate army into the North to try and capture Washington D.C., get Europe on their side, and affect the election. Instead the Union defeated his army as they were out numbered 2-1. Robert E. Lee didn't achieve any of his goals and lead to Lincoln releasing the Emancipation Proclamation. -
Emancipation Proclamation is announced
Abraham Lincoln announced the Proclamation on September 22, 1862 but it went in affect on January 1, 1863. The proclamation states that any slave in a state that is rebelling against the Union, shall be free. This didn't apply to states with slavery still apart of the Union but it was a step towards ending slavery. Abraham's views of slavery and the focus of the war changed to ending slavery after the proclamation was released. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
Abraham Lincoln sent new Union commanding General Burnside to attack the Confederate Capital in Richmond, Virginia. It was a 5 day long mission that became a crushing defeat for the North. The Union soldiers were not able to advance past the wall and suffered many casualties. The North lost 13,000 men while the South lost 5,000. -
Confederates surrender at Vicksburg
Vicksburg was a vital city that held the two halves of the South together. The Mississippi River separated the South and was vital supply chain, Abraham knew if the Union captured Vicksburg it would shut down the supply chain. The Union siege Vicksburg for 47 days, the battle ended on independence day with 29,000 Confederate soldiers surrendering to Grant. Ulysses Grant successful capturing of Vicksburg and the win at Port Hudson gave the Union complete control over the Mississippi river. -
Congress passes the 13th Amendment
The thirteenth amendment made Lincolns Emancipation a national policy throughout the country. The thirteenth amendment abolished slavery in all the states and territories in the U.S. It was first past by Senate on April 8, 1864, approved by Lincoln on February 1, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville became known as Lee's greatest military victory as he faced an army twice the size but still won. Before the battle General Burnside was replaced with General Hooker. Hooker was overly confident in his army, he believed it was the greatest army in the world. Hooker led to men on an offensive attack but lost, the Union ended up defending against the Confederates and loosing their position. Although the Confederates won the battle they lost General Stonewall Jackson. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Was the bloodiest single battle that became a turning point for the Union. It was a three day battle that took place in the Northern territory Adams County, Pennsylvania. Confederate General Robert E. Lee decided to invade the North to try and bring the civil war swift end. Instead the North defeated them causing Robert E. Lee to flee with his army back down south. -
New York City draft riots
In 1863, the government passed a new conscription law to make up for the shortage of manpower. The law was a draft that subjected male citizens between 25-35 and unmarried men 35-45 to time in the military. This draft cause outrage in the cities, Irish men in New York in particular. The the draft riot in New York became the bloodiest riot in U.S. history. The riots focused on damaging government building, it resulted in millions of dollars in damage and Martial Law was needed to stop it. -
Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address
Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech of human equality that became known as the most important speech in U.S. history. The address was held on the land of bloody Battle of Gettysburg, with 15,000 people in the audience Abraham gave a two minute speech. -
Atlanta is captured
In the summer of 1864, Ulysses Grant sent Major General William T. Sherman to capture Atlanta. Atlanta was a valuable Confederate territory, it the most industrial, logistical, and administrative city in the South besides Richmond. In late July confederate General Hood launched two attack outside of Atlanta that ended in major loses that would eventually lead to Atlanta falling to Sherman in September. The successful mission of capturing Atlanta would help Lincoln win the election of 1864. -
Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election
Before the election many people were doubtful that Abraham Lincoln would get a second term. Abraham had conflicts within his Republican party, another candidate threatened his position. Also between the length the war was going on and the Emancipation Proclamation some people no longer were supporting Lincoln. Lincoln still won the election with the majority in the electoral votes and a slight lead in popular. -
Sherman begins his March to the Sea
After capturing Atlanta, Sherman gathered 60,000 soldiers and decided to use physiological warfare against the South. Sherman started the march on November 15 beginning in Atlanta to the Atlantic ocean ending on December 21. Sherman caused destruction to the civilians by burning building and houses along the way with little resistance from the Confederates. Sherman's point of the mission was to make a statement that the South could not protect its citizens. -
Freedman’s Bureau is created
The Freedman Bureau, also known as Bureau of Refugees, was put into affect by a congress act. The act was established two months before Robert E. Lee surrendered and was planned to last one year after the war ended. Oliver Otis Howard was the commissioner of this Bureau that provided food, housing, school, medical aid, land, and legal support. Unfortunately there wasn't enough founding to continue the program. -
Lincoln gives his second inaugural address
Lincolns second inauguration was weeks before the civil war would come to an end. Lincolns inaugural address was very short, it was only 1/5 the length of his first inauguration but it was very powerful. In Lincoln's inauguration he asked the nation would become unified. Lincoln also further denounced slavery but claims that the war will wash the nation's sin of allowing slavery. -
Richmond falls to the Union Army
On April 2nd 1865, the Confederate president and other government leaders left Richmond when Robert E. Lee told them too. The warehouses were lit on fire on the morning of April 3rd before the military left. Later that morning the Union soldiers arrived at Richmond and put out the fires. The Union now occupied Richmond the confederate Capital. -
Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox
April 1, 1865, Ulysses Grant and Philip Sheridan broke through Confederate defenses and shut down transportation systems. On April 6, 1/4 of Robert E. Lees North Virginia army was cut off and forced to surrendered to Grant. Grant then sent a message to Lee asking him to surrender. Grant and Lee met up in a truce home in Appomattox. Ulysses Grant gave Robert Lee generous surrendering terms for him and his army. Grant's generous deal was the blueprint for many more confederate surrenders. -
President Abraham Lincoln Assassinated
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was watching a play at Ford's Theater with his wife and a few other guests in a private box. Lincoln was killed by confederate actor John Wilkes Booth. Booth heard that Lincoln was at the theater and planned to kill him with a few of his colleagues. Later that day Booth entered Lincolns box and shot him in the back of the head killing Lincoln. -
John Wilkes Booth is killed
The actor that killed Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth ran away and went into a barn with David Herold. John Booth was tracked down by detectives and was found with a severe neck injury in a burning barn. The detectives told them to surrender, Herold did but Booth did not. Corbet, a Union soldier, saw Booth in the barn and shot him in the neck causing him to die hours later.