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Republican Party is formed
The Republican Party was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed for the potential extension of slavery to the western territories. The party supported economic reform geared to industry, supporting investments in manufacturing, railroads, and banking. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act passed
It became law on May 30, 1854. The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. It also produced a violent uprising known as “Bleeding Kansas,” as proslavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote -
Abraham Lincoln elected president
Lincoln took office following the 1860 presidential election, in which he won a plurality of the popular vote in a four-candidate field. -
South Carolina votes to secede from the United States
South Carolina voted to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860, marking the first state to do so after Abraham Lincoln's election, a move that triggered a chain of events leading to the American Civil War. -
Confederate forces fire on fort Sumter
The Confederate commander who ordered the opening fire on Fort Sumter was P.G.T. Beauregard. He commanded the Confederate provisional forces in Charleston, South Carolina, where Fort Sumter was located. On April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries under his command began bombarding the fort, marking the start of the Civil War. -
Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy
Richmond, Virginia, became the capital of the Confederate States of America in May 1861, after the Confederate Congress voted to move the capital from Montgomery, Alabama -
First battle of Bull Run is fought
Fairfax County and Prince William County, VA | Jul 21, 1861. Bull Run was the first full-scale battle of the Civil War. The fierce fight there forced both the North and South to face the sobering reality that the war would be long and bloody. -
Jefferson Davis elected president of the Confederacy
Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America on November 6, 1861, for a six-year term, and inaugurated on February 22, 1862 -
The Merrimac and the Moniter fight of the Virginia coast
The USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (formerly known as the Merrimack) engaged in battle on March 8 and 9, 1862, in the waters of Hampton Roads, Virginia. This battle, also known as the Battle of Hampton Roads or the Battle of the Ironclads, was a significant event in naval history as it marked the first clash between ironclad warships. -
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the American Civil War fought on April 6–7, 1862. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. -
Robert E. Lee is named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
Robert E. Lee was named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia on June 1, 1862. He took command after General Joseph E. Johnston was wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines. The army was also known as the Confederate Army of the Potomac before Lee's leadership. -
Battle of Antietam
Washington County, MD | Sep 17, 1862. Antietam, the deadliest one-day battle in American military history, showed that the Union could stand against the Confederate army in the Eastern theater. -
Lincoln suspends habeas corpus
By General Orders No. 141, September 25, 1862, Lincoln subjected protestors to martial law and the suspension of habeas corpus. The suspension of habeas corpus was one of Lincoln's most controversial decisions -
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War -
Emancipation Proclamation is announced
President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring that all enslaved people in Confederate states would be free -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War (1861–1865), and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point. -
Confederates surrender at Vicksburg
The Confederate garrison at Vicksburg surrendered to Union forces on July 4, 1863, marking a pivotal moment in the Civil War -
New York City draft riots
On Saturday, July 11, 1863, the first lottery of the conscription law was held. For twenty-four hours the city remained quiet. On Monday, July 13, 1863, between 6 and 7 A.M., the five days of mayhem and bloodshed that would be known as the Civil War Draft Riots began -
Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address
Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania -
Atlanta is captured
Despite the implication of finality in its name, the battle occurred midway through the Atlanta campaign, and the city did not fall until September 2, 1864, after a Union siege and various attempts to seize railroads and supply lines leading to Atlanta. -
Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election
Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 1864, near the end of the American Civil War. Incumbent President Abraham Lincoln of the National Union Party easily defeated the Democratic nominee, former General George B. -
Sherman begins his March to the Sea
The March to the Sea, the most destructive campaign against a civilian population during the Civil War (1861-65), began in Atlanta on November 15, 1864, and concluded in Savannah on December 21, 1864. -
Freedman's Bureau is created
On March 3, 1865, Congress passed “An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees” to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans -
Lincoln gives his second inaugural address
On March 4, 1865, as the Civil War entered its final weeks, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address from the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. -
Richmond falls to the Union Army
Richmond, the Confederate capital, fell to the Union Army on April 3, 1865. The city was evacuated by the Confederate government and military shortly after the fall of Petersburg, a key defensive position in the siege of Richmond -
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. -
Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox
Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, marking the effective end of the American Civil War. This surrender took place at the Wilmer McLean home in Appomattox -
President Lincoln Assassinated
On April 14 1865 president Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C -
John Wilkes Booth is killed
After a 12-day manhunt, John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln's assassin, was cornered in a barn on a Virginia farm, where he refused to surrender and was fatally shot by Union soldier Boston Corbett.