Civil War

Surrender at Appomattox Court House

1865 BCE

On April 3, 1865, Union troops conquered Richmond, the Confederate capital. Southerners had abandoned the city the day before, setting it afire to keep the Northerners from taking it. On April 9, 1865, in a Virginia town called Appomattox Grant met at a private home to arrange a Confederate surrender. At Lincoln’s
request, the terms were generous Within a month all remaining Confederate resistance collapsed. After four long years, the Civil War was over.

Thirteenth Amendment

1865 BCE

The president believed that the only solution was a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. After some political maneuvering, the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified at the end of 1865. The U.S. Constitution now stated, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.”

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

1865 BCE

On April 14, 1865, five days after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, Lincoln and his wife went to Ford’s Theatre in Washington to see a British comedy, Our American Cousin. During its third act, a man crept up behind Lincoln and shot the president in the back of his head. After the shooting, the assassin, John Wilkes Booth—a 26-year-old actor and Southern sympathizer— then leaped down from the presidential box to the stage and escaped.

Sherman's March

1864 BCE

In March 1864, President Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant commander of all Union armies. Grant in turn appointed William Tecumseh Sherman as commander of the military division of the Mississippi. These two appointments would change the course of the war. Grant’s overall strategy was to decimate Lee’s army in Virginia while Sherman raided Georgia. Even if his casualties ran twice as high as those of Lee— and they did—the North could afford it; the South could not.

Emancipation Proclamation

1863 BCE

On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation. The following portion captured national attention. The proclamation did not free any slaves immediately because it applied only
to areas behind Confederate lines, outside Union control. Nevertheless, for many, the proclamation gave the war a moral purpose by turning the struggle into a fight to free the slaves. It also ensured that compromise was no longer possible.

Income Tax

1863 BCE

When white male workers went out on strike, employees hired free blacks, immigrants,and women to replace them for lower wages. As the Northern economy grew, Congress decided to help pay for the war by collecting the nation’s first income tax, a tax that takes a specified percentage of an individual’s income.

Battle at Gettysburg

1863 BCE

Near the sleepy town of Gettysburg, in southern Pennsylvania, the most decisive battle of the war was fought. The Battle of Gettysburg began on July 1 when Confederate soldiers led by A. The three-day battle produced staggering losses: 23,000 Union men and 28,000 Confederates were killed or wounded. Total casualties were more than 30 percent. Despite the devastation, Northerners were enthusiastic about breaking “the charm of Robert Lee’s invincibility.”

Conscription

1863 BCE

As the fighting intensified, heavy casualties and widespread desertions led each side to impose conscription, a draft that forced men to serve in the army. In the North, conscription led to draft riots, the most violent of which took place in New York City. Sweeping changes occurred in the wartime economies of both sides as well as in the roles played by African Americans and women.

Battle at Vicksburg

1862 BCE

In the winter of 1862–1863, Grant tried several schemes to reach Vicksburg and take it from the Confederates. Nothing seemed to work—until the spring of 1863. the Confederate command of Vicksburg asked Grant for terms of surrender. The city fell on July 4. Five days later Port Hudson, Louisiana, the last Confederate holdout on the Mississippi, also fell. The Union had achieved another of its major military objectives, and the Confederacy was cut in two.

Battle Of Antietam

1862 BCE

McClellan ordered his men to pursue Lee, and the two sides fought on September 17 near a creek called the Antietam (Bn-tCPtEm). The clash proved to be the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with casualties totaling more than 26,000. The next day, instead of pursuing the battered Confederate army into Virginia and possibly ending the war, McClellan did nothing. As a result, Lincoln removed him from command.

Formation of Confederacy

1861 BCE

In February 1861, delegates from the secessionist states met in
Montgomery, Alabama, where they formed the Confederate
States of America, or Confederacy. They also drew up a
constitution that closely resembled that of the United
States, but with a few notable differences. The most important
difference was that it “protected and recognized” slavery
in new territories.

Attack on For Sumter

1861 BCE

the Confederacy was formed, Confederate soldiers in each secessionist state began seizing federal installations—especially forts. By the time of Lincoln’s inauguration on March 4, 1861, only four Southern forts remained in Union hands. The most important was Fort Sumter, on an island in Charleston harbor. He would merely send in “food for hungry men.” At 4:30 A.M. on April 12, Confederate batteries began thundering away to the cheers of Charleston’s citizens.

Battle Of Bull Run

1861 BCE

The first bloodshed on the battlefield occurred about three months
after Fort Sumter fell, near the little creek of Bull Run. In the afternoon Confederate reinforcements helped win the first Southern victory. Fortunately for the Union, the Confederates were too exhausted to follow up their victory with an attack on Washington. Still, Confederate morale soared. Many Confederate soldiers, confi- dent that the war was over, left the army and went home.

Abraham Lincoln becomes president

1860 BCE

As the 1860 presidential election approached, the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln appeared to be moderate in his views. Although he pledged to halt the further spread of slavery, he alsob tried to reassure Southerners that a Republican administration would not “interfere with their slaves, or with them, about their slaves.” Nonetheless, many Southerners viewed him as an enemy.

John Browns raid / Harpers Ferry

1859 BCE

While politicians debated the slavery issue, the abolitionist John Brown was studying the slave uprisings that had occurred in ancient Rome and, more recently, on the French island of Haiti. He believed that the time was ripe for similar uprisings in the United States. Brown secretly obtained financial backing from several prominent Northern abolitionists. In the North, bells tolled, guns fired salutes, and huge crowds gathered to hear fiery speakers denounce the South.

Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas Debates

1858 BCE

Several months after the Dred Scott decision, one of Illinois’s greatest political contests got underway: the 1858 race for the U.S. Senate between Democratic incumbent Stephen Douglas and Republican challenger Congressman Abraham Lincoln. To many outsiders it must have seemed like an uneven match. To counteract Douglas, Lincoln challenged the man known as the “Little Giant” to a series of debates on the issue of slavery in the territories.

Dread Scott v. Sandford

1856 BCE

the Supreme Court ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. The Court also ruled that Congress lacked power to ban slavery in the U.S. territories.

Kansas Nebraska Act

1854 BCE

The Compromise of 1850 had provided for popular sovereignty in New Mexico and Utah. To Senator Stephen Douglas, popular sovereignty seemed like an excellent way to decide whether slavery would be allowed in the Nebraska Territory. The only difficulty was that, unlike New Mexico and Utah, the Kansas and Nebraska territory lay north of the Missouri Compromise line of 36°30’ and therefore was legally closed to slavery. Douglas introduced a
bill in Congress on January 23, 1854.

Harriet Tubman

1852 BCE

Meanwhile, another woman brought the horrors of slavery into the homes of a great many Americans. In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe published her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which stressed that slavery was not just a political contest, but also a great moral struggle. As a young girl, Stowe had watched boats filled with people on their way to be sold at slave markets. Uncle Tom’s Cabin expressed her lifetime hatred of slavery.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

1852 BCE

Uncle Tom’s Cabin expressed her lifetime hatred of slavery. The book stirred Northern abolitionists to increase their protests against the Fugitive Slave Act, while Southerners criticized the book as an attack on the South. The furor over Uncle Tom’s Cabin had barely begun to settle when the issue of slavery in the territories surfaced once again.

Fugitive Slave Act

1850 BCE

The harsh terms of the Fugitive Slave Act surprised many people. Under the law, alleged fugitive slaves were not entitled to a trial by jury. In addition, anyone convicted of helping a fugitive was liable for a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for up to six months. Infuriated by the Fugitive Slave Act, some Northerners resisted it by organizing “vigilance committees” to send endangered African Americans to safety in Canada.

Underground Railroad

1850 BCE

As time went on, free African Americans and white abolitionists developed a secret network of people who would, at great risk to themselves, hide fugitive slaves. The system of escape routes they used became known as the Underground Railroad. “Conductors” on the routes hid fugitives in secret tunnels and false cupboards, provided them with food and clothing, and escorted or directed them to the next “station.” Once fugitives reached the North, many chose to remain there.

Compromise of 1850

1850 BCE

The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848).

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

1848 BCE

Meanwhile, American troops in Mexico, led by U.S. generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, scored one military victory after another. After about a year of fighting, Mexico conceded defeat. On February 2, 1848, the United States and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

The north star

1847 BCE

One of those eager readers was Frederick Douglass, who escaped from bondage to become an eloquent and outspoken critic of slavery. Douglass began his own antislavery newspaper. He named it The North Star, after the star that
guided runaway slaves to freedom.

Mexican American war

1846 BCE

After independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico contended with internal struggles that sometimes verged on civil war. In the sparsely settled interior of northern Mexico, the end of Spanish colonial rule was marked by the end of financing for presidios and for subsidies to indigenous groups to maintain the peace. There were conflicts between indigenous peoples in the northern region as well.

Manifest Destiny

1845 BCE

The phrase “manifest destiny” expressed the belief that the United States was ordained to expand to the Pacific Ocean and into Mexican and Native American territory. Many Americans also believed that this destiny was manifest, or obvious and inevitable.

Texas Enters United States

1845 BCE

In March 1845, angered by U.S.-Texas negotiation on annexation, the Mexican government recalled its ambassador from Washington. On December 29, 1845, Texas entered the Union. Events moved quickly toward war. President Polk believed that war with Mexico would bring not only Texas into the Union, but also New Mexico and California. Hence, the president supported Texan claims in disputes with Mexico over the Texas–Mexico border.

Texas Revolution

1835 BCE

Despite peaceful cooperation between Anglos and Tejanos, differences over cultural issues intensified between Anglos and the Mexican government. The overwhelmingly Protestant Anglo settlers spoke English instead of Spanish. Furthermore, many of the settlers were Southerners, who had brought slaves with them to Texas. Mexico, which had abolished slavery in 1829, insisted in vain that the Texans free their slaves.

Nat turner

1831 BCE

Some slaves rebelled against their condition of bondage. One of the most prominent rebellions was led by Virginia slave Nat Turner. In August 1831, Turner and more than 50 followers attacked four plantations and killed about 60 whites. Whites eventually captured and executed many members of the group, including Turner.

Oregon Trail

1830 BCE

The Oregon Trail stretched from Independence,
Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon. It was blazed in 1836 by
two Methodist missionaries named Marcus and Narcissa
Whitman. By driving their wagon as far as Fort Boise (near
present-day Boise, Idaho), they proved that wagons could
travel on the Oregon Trail.

Abolition

1830 BCE

Forten’s unwavering belief that he was an American not only led him to oppose colonization—the effort to resettle free blacks in Africa—but also pushed him fervently to oppose slavery. Forten was joined in his opposition to slavery by a growing number of Americans in the 19th century. Abolition, the movement to abolish slavery, became the most important of a series of reform movements in America.

The Liberator

1828 BCE

The most radical white abolitionist was a young editor named William Lloyd Garrison. Active in religious reform movements
in Massachusetts, Garrison became the editor of an antislavery paper in 1828. Three years later he established his own paper, The Liberator, to deliver an uncompromising demand: immediate emancipation.

San Felipe de Austin

1824 BCE

The main settlement of the colony was named San Felipe de Austin, in Stephen’s honor. By 1825, Austin had issued 297 land grants to the group that later became known as Texas’s Old Three Hundred. Each family received either 177 very inexpensive acres of farmland, or 4,428 acres for stock grazing, as well as a 10-year exemption from paying taxes. “I am convinced,” Austin said, “that I could take on fifteen hundred families as easily as three hundred if permitted to do so.”

Mexico Abolished Slavery

1823 BCE

Mexico, which had abolished slavery in 1829, insisted in vain that the Texans free their slaves. Meanwhile, Mexican politics had become increasingly unstable. Austin had traveled to Mexico City late in 1833 to present petitions to Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna for greater self-government for Texas.

Santa Fe Trail

1822 BCE

The settlers and traders who made the trek west used a series of old Native American trails as well as new routes. One of the busiest routes was the Santa Fe Trail, which stretched 780 miles from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe in the Mexican province of New Mexico. Each spring from 1821 through the 1860s, American traders loaded their covered wagons with goods and set off toward Santa Fe.

Missouri Compromise 1820-1821

1820 BCE

Behind the leadership of Henry Clay, Congress passed a series of agreements in 1820–1821 known as the Missouri Compromise. Under these agreements, Maine was admitted as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. The rest of the Louisiana Territory was split into two parts. The dividing line was set at 36°30´ north latitude. South of the line, slavery was legal. North of the line—except in Missouri—slavery was banned. Under the presidency of James Monroe

Stephen F. Austin goes to jail

1793 BCE

rom February 23, 1836, Santa Anna and his troops attacked the rebels holed up in the Alamo. On March 2, 1836, as the battle for the Alamo raged, Texans declared their independence from Mexico and quickly ratified a constitution based on that of the United States. The 13-day siege finally ended on March 6, 1836, when Mexican troops scaled the Alamo’s walls. All 187 U.S. defenders and hundreds of Mexicans died.

Gettysburg Address

Nov 7, 1863

In November 1863, a ceremony was held to dedicate
a cemetery in Gettysburg. There, President Lincoln spoke for a little more than two minutes. According to some contemporary historians, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address “remade America.” Before Lincoln’s speech, people said, “The United States are . .” Afterward, they said, “The United States is .. .” In other words, the speech helped the country to realize that it was not just a collection of individual states; it was one unified nation.