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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 The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. -
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, -
Confederates surrender at Vicksburg
The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.” The Vicksburg Campaign began in 1862 and ended with the Confederate surrender on July 4, 1863. -
South Carolina votes to secede from the United States
South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal Union -
Jefferson Davis elected president of the Confederacy
Davis was unanimously elected to the provisional presidency of the Confederacy by a constitutional convention in Montgomery -
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. -
Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter
At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Harbor. Less than 34 hours later, Union forces surrendered. -
First Battle of Bull Run is fought
The first land battle of the Civil War was fought on July 21, 1861, just 30 miles from Washington—close enough for U.S. senators to witness the battle in person. Southerners called it the Battle of Manassas, after the closest town. -
The Merrimac and the Monitor fight of the Virginia coast
history's first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of naval warfare. -
Robert E. Lee is named commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
Lee is given command of the Army of Northern Virginia, the main Confederate army in the eastern theater of the war. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam pitted Union General George McClellan's Army of the Potomac against General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
With nearly 200,000 combatants the greatest number of any Civil War engagement Fredericksburg was one of the largest and deadliest battles of the Civil War. -
Emancipation Proclamation is announced
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. -
Battle of Gettysburg
a three day battle in the American civil war fought between union and confederate forces -
Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address was a speech given by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, at the official dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery -
Abraham Lincoln defeats George McClellan to win re-election
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. McClellan -
Lincoln gives his second inaugural address
President Lincoln (center at the podium) giving his Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865 (Library of Congress) In his Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865, a re-elected President Abraham Lincoln wanted to unify a broken nation. -
Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox
The surrender of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia sets the stage for the conclusion of the Civil War. Through the lenient terms, Confederate troops are paroled and allowed to return to their homes while Union soldiers are ordered to refrain from overt celebration or taunting. -
president Lincoln assassinated
an American actor snuck up behind president Lincoln as he was watching a play, and shot him in the back of his head -
John Wilkes Booth is killed
One soldier, Boston Corbett, approached the barn and claimed to have seen Booth leveling his pistol at him, so Corbett fired a round from his revolver. The bullet severed Booth's spinal cord and paralyzed him. John Wilkes Booth died three hours later