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The Virginia House of Delegates voted to reject a convention of southern states that had been proposed by South Carolina. -
Timeline of events that took place during the Civil War.
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Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the 1860 election. He had the majority of votes in both the popular and electoral votes above all other candidates. -
The South Carolina legislature orders for a Convention to be held on December 17 to determine the state's future in the Union. -
The South Carolina legislature allows the state to raise ten-thousand men for the state's military. -
Alexander Stephens, who is also the future Vice President of the Confederacy, spoke out against secession. He argued that the South should pursue a less severe course and let the extremists of the North break the Constitution if they must. -
The Georgia legislature allows for the state to use one-million dollars for weapon purchases. -
South Carolina congressmen promise to President Buchanan that their forces will not attack United States prior to the issue of secession being debated or before the two governments can reach an agreement. -
South Carolina's Secession Convention begins in Columbia. -
Abraham Lincoln's victory in the Presidential Election resulted in South Carolina leaving the Union and becoming the first state to Secede. -
The people of South Carolina seize the Federal Arsenal at Charleston. This leaving Fort Sumter the last piece of federal property controlled by the U.S. government in South Carolina. -
President Buchanan sent a message to congress which endorsed Senator John J. Crittenden’s idea to bring back the Missouri Compromise line. -
While the Star of the West was attempting to re-supply Fort Sumter, it was fired on my southerners. The ship then set course for New York. -
The Crittenden Compromise, claimed to be able to end slavery arguments and avoid the American Civil War, was defeated in the Senate. It was created by John J. Crittenden, a Democratic senator from Kentucky and slaveholder. -
The House of Representatives passes a measure that forbids the federal government from interfering with slavery in states where it already exists. This measure was supported by President-elect Abraham Lincoln. -
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as President of the United States. In his speech, he states that he does not intend to interfere with slavery. He also states that seceding from Union is illegal and that the Union is unending. -
After days of contemplating the decision and discussing it with his cabinet, Lincoln decided to re-supply Forts Sumter and Pickens. -
After Union soldiers refused to leave Fort Sumter, Confederates attacked. This was the official beginning of the Civil War and a Confederate victory. -
North Carolina is the last state to secede from the Union. -
This was the first organized land battle of the Civil War. It was an attempt by the Union to protect Western Virginia railroads, and was a Union victory. -
The First Battle of Bull Run was the first major battle in the Civil War, and it was a Confederate victory. It resulted in 4,700 total casualties, 2,950 of which were from the Union and 1,750 being Confederate. -
The Battle of Fort Henry was the result of a Union attempt to gain control over supply lines and rivers located west of the Appalachians. It was the first significant Union victory of the American Civil War. -
The Battle of Fort Donelson was a Union victory. As a result of it, the Confederacy was forced to give up southern Kentucky and a large portion of Middle and West Tennessee. -
Union troops captured and took possession of New Orleans over a four day period, that lasted from April 25 to May 1. This was a huge blow to the Confederacy as New Orleans was an important southern city. -
Although the Confederate army faced many casualties, the battle was a Confederate victory. It lasted from August 28 to August 30, and on the 30 after about ten minutes, 117 men out of 490 men were killed or mortally wounded. This being the highest number of combat deaths of any regiment in any one battle during the Civil War. -
The Battle of Antietam was the deadliest one-day battle of the Civil War and American military history. It showed the Union's ability to stand against the Confederate army, and the Union victory gave Lincoln the confidence to issue the initial Emancipation Proclimation. -
President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. It states that if the seceded states did not rejoin the Union and end the fighting by January 1, 1863, all slaves in Confederate states would be freed. -
After the Battle of Antietam, President Lincoln became bothered by General McClellan not pursuing Lee's retreating army. He traveled to Antietam to visit McClellan and urge him to personally attack. -
Lincoln removed General McClellan from command for having the slows and taking to long to make important decisions in the war. Lincoln felt like McClellan's procrastination dragged the war on longer than it needed to go. -
After McClellan's removal, Lincoln appoints General Ambrose Burnside to replace him as the new commander of the Army of the Potomac. -
The Battle of Fredericksburg resulted in a significant number of Union casualties and boosted the Confederate's hopes of victory. The battle also resulted in the largest river crossing of the war. -
President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation stated that slaves in Confederate states were now and onward considered free people. -
The Battle of Chancellorsville lasted from April 30 to May 6. Union General Hooker attempted to attack General Lee's forces, but Lee's army split and almost fully defeated the Union army by surprising them with attacks in three places. It was a victory for the Confederacy, and is known for mortally wounding Stonewall Jackson. -
This Union victory gave General Grant the upper hand that was necessary to make a divide between the fortress at Vicksburg and Confederate re-enforcements. -
The Siege of Vicksburg lasted from May 18 to July 4. It divided the confederacy and secured Union General Ulysses S. Grant's reputation. -
The capture of Port Harbor lasted from May 21 to July 9. After its capture, the Union had gained total control of the Mississippi River. -
The Battle of Brandy Station was a Confederate victory. It was the largest majority cavalry engagement during the Civil War and to ever take place on American grounds. -
The Battle of Gettysburg was a three day battle lasting from July 1 to July 3. The battle was a major turning point in the war, giving the North a boost in morale and ending General Lee's plan to invade the North. It also resulted in Lee requesting to resign from his position in the war. -
The First Battle of Fort Wagner was a Confederate victory. However, it paved the way for future African Americans to enlist in the war by showing the determination of African Americans in the Union army through the assault led by the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. -
The Union army launched a failed assault on the confederate fortress of fort Wagner. The fort protected Morris Island. -
About a month after the Battle of Gettysburg, Lee sent Confederate President Jefferson Davis a letter requesting his resignation from the war. -
In the presidential election of 1864, George McClellan ran for the presidency in an attempt to get revenge on Abraham Lincoln for firing him. In his campaign, McClellan had promised to do a better than Lincoln in prosecuting the Union Army effort in the war. -
The Confederate prison camp near Andersonville opened. The camp commander was Henry Wirz. The camp would later come to be known as the worst prison camp of the Civil War. Its remembered for its disgusting and unsanitary living conditions, lack of food, and lack of food. -
Lincoln promoted General Ulysses S. Grant to lieutenant general, and also appointed him to be General-in-Chief of United States armies. -
The Battle of Resaca took place from May 13 to May 15. The winner of the battle was inconclusive. It showed that the Confederate army was only able to slow the Union forces advances into Georgia, rather than stop them. -
The Wade-Davis Bill, which states that half of the voters in the Confederate states must pledge their allegiance to the Union before being reunified, is passed by Congress. However, Lincoln, who only wanted this to be ten percent of the voters, pocket vetoed this and therefore it never took effect. -
The battle of Atlanta was a Union victory that resulted in the capture of Atlanta, which was a vital Confederate city. -
Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election of 1864. He beat George McClellan by 212 to 21 in the electoral college, and had 55 percent of the popular vote. -
Sherman's march to the sea began on November 15 and ended December 21. General William T. Sherman led about 60,000 soldiers on a march across Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah, lasting 285 miles. It was meant ti frighten civilians in Georgia to leave the Confederate cause. -
The battle of Nashville went on from December 15 to the 16. This battle was a Union victory, and the loss of Hood's Army of Tennessee ended the war in Tennessee. -
Sherman's march to the sea comes to an end when he captures Savannah, Georgia. -
The Thirteenth Amendment, stating that slavery shall no longer exist in the United States or its territories, was passed in Congress. -
Abraham Lincoln took oath of office as the President of the United States for the second time, giving his second inaugural address. In his address, Lincoln reflected upon the causes of the war and faults of both the North and the South. -
Grant sent Lee a letter requesting for him to surrender after seeing that his army was running out of options. -
Lee surrendered his Confederate troops to Union General Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. -
John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer, assassinated Lincoln in Washington, D.C. at Ford's Theatre. Lincoln was shot in the head and has a result he died the next day. -
After Lincoln's death, Vice President Andrew Johnson became the President of the United States. -
General Johnston saw the war to be over and surrendered to General Sherman in North Carolina. -
Jefferson Davis was captured by the Union in Irwinville, Georgia. -
General Granger issued General Orders No. 3, which informed the people of Texas that enslaved people had been freed as of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. -
The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified and abolished slavery in the United States. -
In early 1866, "Black Codes" were passed in the South. They were meant to replace the social controls of slavery that the Emancipation Proclamation and Thirteenth Amendment removed. They controlled the labor and behavior of formerly enslaved people and gave the rights to make contracts, own property, and some other innovations. -
Freedmen's Bureau was established to help with early Reconstruction. It was meant to supply displaced Southerners and newly freed African Americans with food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 declared that all people born in the United States were citizens regardless of race or previous condition of slavery. It was the first federal law in the United States to define citizenship and declare all citizens are protected equally by the law. President Johnson vetoed the law, but his veto was overturned in Congress. -
Winfield Scott, a Union Army General, died. He is regarded by historians as one of the most accomplished generals in United States history. -
The Fourteenth Amendment was passed by Congress. It stated that the rights and liberties within the Bill of Rights would be extended to formerly enslaved people. -
Tennessee's state legislature ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, making it the first former Confederate state to do so. -
Tennessee was the first state from the Confederacy to be readmitted to the Union. -
The National Union Convention was held from August 14 to August 16 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was meant to create a new political party that would be in support of Johnson's Reconstruction program and to elect a new Congress. -
President Andrew Johnson formally declared the end to the Civil War. -
The 1866 election for the House of Representatives resulted in Republicans winning a large majority. They had gathered enough seats to outweigh Johnson's vetoes. -
African-American men gained the right to vote in Washington D.C.. Andrew Johnson vetoed this, however, the senate overrode him in a vote of 29-10. -
Nebraska is admitted to the Union. It is the 37th state in the United States. -
The First Reconstruction Act outlined the plans for readmitting to representation all formerly Confederate states, except for Tennessee, and divided them into five military districts. -
General Oliver O. Howard founded Howard University. Its main campus makes up for 256 acres of land across Maryland and the District of Columbia. It later established the first black law school in the nation. -
The Second Reconstruction Act added to the first one. It answered the question of who was supposed to enforce the legislation by stating it was the job of military commanders to register voters and hold elections. It also required all voters to recite the registration oath and made it so only the majority of votes were necessary for the constitution to be ratified. -
Alaska was purchased by the United States from Russia for 7.2 million dollars. -
Two years after being captured, Jefferson Davis was released from prison. His bail was one-hundred-thousand dollars. -
The Third Reconstruction Act clarified what had been stated in the first and second acts. They had come together to conclude that the former Confederate states had been divided up into five military districts, each state must create a constitution that recognized the voting rights of black men, and each state must ratify the Fourteenth Amendment before reentering the Union. -
Andrew Johnson extends full pardon to most people who were a part of the rebellion. -
Due to a charge against Johnson for violating the Tenure of Office Act, Congress looked into his impeachment.