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Republican Party is formed
he Republican Party was founded in the Northern United States by forces opposed to the expansion of slavery, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers. The Republican Party quickly became the principal opposition to the dominant Democratic Party and the briefly popular Know Nothing Party. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act passed
The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. -
Abraham Lincoln elected president
Lincoln took office following the 1860 presidential election, in which the majority of President Lincoln's votes came from the Northern United States, due to the fact that Republicans held little appeal to voters in the Southern United States. -
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. Union general William T. -
South Carolina votes to secede from the United States
South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal Union. The victory of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election triggered cries for disunion across the slaveholding in the South. -
jefferson Davis elected president of the Confederacy
Jefferson Davis was unanimously elected to the provisional presidency of the Confederacy by the Confederate Congress in Montgomery, Alabama -
Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter
At 4:30 a.m., Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Harbor. Less than 34 hours later, Union forces surrendered. -
Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy
in the Confederate Capital City of Montgomery, Alabama, the decision was made to name the City of Richmond, Virginia as the new Capital of the Confederacy. The Confederate capital was moved to Richmond in recognition of Virginia's strategic importance. -
First Battle of Bull Run is fought
The first land battle of the Civil War was fought 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
Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack, (March 9, 1862), in the American Civil War, naval engagement at Hampton Roads, Virginia, a harbour at the mouth of the James River, notable as history’s first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of naval warfare. -
Battle of Shiloh
Unions casualties was about 13,000 and Confederate 10,000 -
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. Union troops are poised at the gates of Richmond. Lee commences a series of counterattacks at the Seven Days Battle that drives the enemy away from the Confederate capital. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam took place in Sharpsburg, Maryland. It was a very brutal battle which ended in around 23,000 soldiers being killed, wounded, or missing. It lasted about 12 hours and resulted in a Union victory. -
Lincoln suspends habeas corpus
Presidential Proclamation 94 of September 24, 1862, by President Abraham Lincoln suspending the writ of Habeas Corpus. -
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought in Fredericksburg, Virginia. This Battle resulted in a Confederate victory, with the Union Army suffering over 12,500 casualties and Lees Confederate army suffering about 6,000 loses. -
Emancipation Proclamation is announced
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation as the nation approached its third year of the civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
Confederates surrender at Vicksburg
Ended with Confederate surrender due to running out of supplies -
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought 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 wars turning point -
New York City draft riots
The riots remain the largest civil and most racially charged urban disturbance in American history. According to Toby Joyce, the riot represented a "civil war" -
Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address was a speech given by President Abraham Lincoln at the official dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery which is now called the Gettysburg National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. -
when is Atlanta is captured
President Abraham Lincoln's re–election in November, and final Confederate defeat seven months later were both virtually assured after Atlanta's fall on September 2, 1864, Today in Georgia History. -
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 defeated the Democratic nominee, which was a former General George B. McClellan, by a wide margin of 212–21 in the electoral college, with 55% of the popular vote. -
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. -
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
President Lincoln (center at the podium) giving his Second Inaugural Address, In his Second Inaugural Address, a re-elected President Abraham Lincoln wanted to unify a broken nation. -
Richmond falls to the Union Army
The Confederacy's capital of Richmond was a chief distribution center for weapons, supplies, and troops, and the city resisted repeated Union assaults before officially capitulating on April 3, 1865. -
Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox
Appomattox County, VA | Apr 9, 1865. Trapped by the Federals near Appomattox Court House, Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union general Ulysses S. Grant, precipitating the capitulation of other Confederate forces and leading to the end of the bloodiest conflict in American history. -
President Lincoln assassinated
the assassination of Abraham Lincoln was murderous attack on the 16th president of the United States. It happened at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. Lincoln was shot in the head by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. -
John Wilkes Booth is killed
Booth escaped to Northern Virginia after shooting President Lincoln in the head, killing him, but was eventually found hiding in a barn. He was shot as he was resisting surrender.