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James buchanan sworn into office as the 5th president
A member of the Federalist Party, Buchanan began his political career by serving in the Pennsylvania legislature from 1814 to 1816. In 1820, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he remained for the next decade. In Congress Buchanan aligned himself with the Democrats as the Federalist Party dissolved. After Democrat Andrew Jackson 1767-1845 was elected president in 1828, he appointed Buchanan the U.S. ambassador to Russia in 1831. -
first issue of the liberator
William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator. Anti-abolitionist handbills sometimes led to violent clashes between pro slavery and anti-slavery factions. For the entire generation of people that grew up in the years that led to the Civil War, William Lloyd Garrison was the voice of Abolitionism. -
compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican American War -
uncle tom's cabin publish
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly, is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman. Wikipedia -
kansas nebraska act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. -
dred scott decision
Dred Scott decision, formally Dred Scott v. John F.A. Sandford,
Scott, Dred [Credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file no. 3a08411u)]legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 6, 1857, ruled (7–2) that a slave (Dred Scott) who had resided in a free state and territory (where slavery was prohibited) was not thereby entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; and that the Missouri Compromise (1820) -
john brown's raid at harpers ferry
On the evening of October 16, 1859 John Brown, a staunch abolitionist, and a group of his supporters left their farmhouse hide-out en route to Harpers Ferry. -
abe lincoln elected president
In 1860, Lincoln won the party's presidential nomination. In the November 1860 election, Lincoln again faced Douglas, who represented the Northern faction of a heavily divided Democratic Party, as well as Breckenridge and Bell. -
south Carolina secedes from the union
South Carolina was a site of a major political and military importance for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. The white population of the state strongly supported the institution of slavery long before the war, since the 18th century. -
battle at fort sumter begins
On April 12, 1861, General P.G.T. Beauregard, in command of the Confederate forces around Charleston Harbor, opened fire on the Union garrison holding Fort Sumter. At 2:30pm on April 13 Major Robert Anderson, garrison commander, surrendered the fort and was evacuated the next day. -
battle of bull run
This was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. On July 16, 1861, the untried Union army under Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, which was drawn up behind Bull Run beyond Centreville. On the 21st, McDowell crossed at Sudley Ford and attacked the Confederate left flank on Matthews Hill. Fighting raged throughout the day as Confederate forces were driven back to Henry Hill. -
emancipation proclamation
president Abraham Lincoln issue the Emancipation proclamation on January 1,1863 as the nation approach its third year of bloody civil war. -
battle of gettey's burg
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. -
sherman's march to the sea
Sherman's March to the Sea is the name commonly given to the military Savannah Campaign in the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 to December 21, 1864 by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army. -
the surrender at Appomattox court house
Harried mercilessly by Federal troops and continually cut off from turning south, Lee headed west, eventually arriving in Appomattox County on April 8. -
Lincoln's assassination
On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer, fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln at a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. The attack came only five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War.
