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Civil War
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Jefferson Davis comes out in favor of secession for the first time
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Lincoln is elected president receiving 180 of 303 electoral votes and 40 percent of the popular vote
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South Carolina calls for a meeting on December 17 to decide if the state should secede from the Union
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James Chesnut becomes the first Southerner to resign from the Senate
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Governor Harris calls for a special secession of the Tennessee legislature to consider secession
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On December 17, South Carolina Secessionist Convention decides to secede from the Union
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John Crittenden proposes an idea which allowed states south of the old Missouri Compromise line to determine themselves whether they are a free or slave state
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South Carolina is the first state to secede from the Union
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South Carolina representatives withdraw from the U.S. House
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Charleston is notified by telegraph that a man of war with troops is on the way there
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Florida secedes from the Union
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Mississippi secedes from the Union
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Alabama Secedes from the the Union
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Georgia secedes from the Union
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Louisiana secedes from the Union
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Texas secedes from the Union
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Abraham Lincoln officially becomes the 16th President of the United States of America
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The confederate states signed The Constitution of Confederate States in Alabama
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Civil War begins in Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861
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Major Anderson surrenders Fort Sumter to the south after being attacked for two days
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Virginia secedes from the Union
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Arkansas secedes from the Union
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Tennessee secedes from the Union
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North Carolina is the last state to secede from the Union making 11 confederate states
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The first official battle of the war is at Bull Run in Virginia. The Union was very disorganization and could not make an advancement through the Confederates. Soon, the Union retreats and Confederates are to tired to follow them
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After the Battle of Bull Run, Lincoln requests 500,000 more men
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Grant captured Fort Henry and ten days later Fort Donelson. He later earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender"
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Lincolns 11 year old son Willie dies from a fever most likely caused by drinking polluted water in the White House
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Grant takes his men to a church in Tennessee named Shiloh. The Confederates surprise the men early in the morning.
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By the second day Grant reorganizes the troops and pushes the rebels back. 1/4 of the 100,000 men were killed there.
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General Johnston's army attacks McClellan's troops in Richmond and nearly defeats them. But, Johnston is badly wounded
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Lee gets command of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia
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A series of battles known as the Seven Day's Battles from June 25th to July 1st. McClellan moved his men down the Potomac River where he met Lee at the peninsula of the York and James River.
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President Lincoln hands over the tasks of general-in-chief to General Henry W. (Old Brains) Halleck
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Antietam was the bloodiest single day battle in United States history with more than 26,000 casualties. After this battle, Lincoln fires McClellan for having 'the slows'
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Union general Burnside tried to capture a confederate zone and suffers a horrible defeat which costs the the Union 13,000 casualites
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The Emancipation Proclamation was delivered by Abraham Lincoln. This allowed freed African Americans to enlist in the Union army.
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Congress enacts the first military draft in American history. This draft ordered every man to serve in the army unless they can pay the government $300
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The three day battle where Lee divides his army in order to face the Union and defeats them. The South has 13,000 casualties while the North suffered 17,000
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Jackson dies from wounds sustained when he was mistakenly shot by his own troops at Chancellorsville
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The first day of this three day battle, both sides met by chance on a small farm in Pennsylvania. The shooting starts with 90,000 men under Meade's command and 75,000 men under Lee's command
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Lee orders men to advance from Seminary Ridge to Cemetery Hill. The South pushed through the Union who forgot to leave men to guard Little Round Top which gives them a chance to take the high ground.
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Lee thought that he could break the Union lines. Longstreet orders troops to advance but are stopped hurt by the Union Artillery. The Union never counter attacks yet Lee fears it.
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Grant takes Vicksburg after a long siege leaving the Union control of the entire Mississippi River.
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Riots breakout in New York and northern cities leaving 120 African American men, women, and children dead over the governments attempts to begin conscription
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Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
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Lincoln places Grant commander of all Union armies
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Grant and 120,000 troops marched toward Richmond. As a result, over the next six weeks over 50,000 Union soldiers die
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During this battle, thousands of men caught on fire and burned to death in the woods
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Grant attacks Lee in Spotslvania. Grant loses more soldiers then the South but Lee is still forced to retreat
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Grant costs the Union 7,000 casualties in twenty minutes during the Rebels at Cold Harbor in Virginia
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The Union army misses their chance to capture Petersburg which causes a nine month siege
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George B. McClellan for president to run against Lincoln
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Atlanta is captured by Sherman's army
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Union get victory in the Shenandoah Valley lead by Union General Sheridan in
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Lincoln is re-elected in the 1864 election
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Congress approves the 13th amendment that will abolish slavery
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The Union army captures Richmond, the capital of the Confederates
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Lincoln is sworn in for his second presidential term
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Grant army breaks through Confederate line and makes his way toward Richmond
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Lee surrenders to Grant in a farm house in the town of the Appomattox Court House. This will end the war
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Celebration breaks out in Washington
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Lincoln is shot in Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth
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Lincoln dies the next morning, Vice President Andrew Johnson will take over the presidency
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General Johnston surrenders in North Carolina after leading the largest Confederate army still in existence
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The 13th amendment is ratified by the states making slavery abolished
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United States Congress passes the Civil Rights Act, the first rights that protect African Americans
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President Johnson vetoes the Civil Rights Act
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Congress override President Johnson veto on the Civil Rights Act
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is founded in New York Henry Bergh
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Congress approved the minting of a nickel, removing the half dime
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Tennessee is the first state allowed back into the Union
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Congress passes legislation authorizing the rank of General of Army to Grant
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The Metric Act becomes a law and legalizes the use of the metric system for weights and measures in the United States
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Western Union Telegraph Expedition to Alaska begins its second season
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The Republican party wins The House of Representatives elections by a landslide
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John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati Ohio and Covington, Kentucky, becoming the longest suspension bridge in the world
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African American men a granted the right to vote in the District of Columbia
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Nebraska is admitted as the 37th U.S. State
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Alaska is purchased for $7.2 million from Alexander ll of Russia
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The Atlantic Cable Quartz Lode mine is named in Montana
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The first elevated railroad in the U.S. begins in New York
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In Boston, Harvard Dental School is established making it the first dental school in the United States
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United States takes control of Midway Island
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Charles Dickson gives his first public reading in a New York theater
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A train crash kills 49 people in New York
