1820- Missouri Compromise

• A series of agreements passed by Congress in 1820-1821 to maintain

the balance of power between slave states and free states.

Missouri was admitted as a slave state and Maine was admitted as a free state to

keep the balance of power in congress.

1846- Wilmot Proviso

•A bill that proposed to ban slavery in many territories. Led to the division among political

parties, the creation of the Free-Soil Party and making slavery a key issue in national politics.

1850- Compromise of 1850

• Effort by Congress to settle the issue of slavery in the territories that arose when California was admitted as a free state. • To please the North, California would be

admitted as a free state, and the slave trade would be abolished in Washington D.C.

• To please the South, Congress would not pass laws regarding slavery for the rest of the territories won from Mexico, and congress would pass a stronger law to help slave-holders recapture runaway slaves.

1852- Uncle Tom’s Cabin

•Antislavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe that showed the horrors of slavery to Northerners.

1854- Kansas- Nebraska Act

•Law that split the Nebraska Territory into Kansas and Nebraska and allowed people to vote on slavery in these territories. •Violence erupted when people from Missouri crossed into Kansas to vote for slavery then went back to Missouri.

1855- Pottawatomie Massacre

•Murder of five men from a proslavery settlement on

Pottawatomie Creek, by an antislavery party led by the

abolitionist John Brown.

1856- Dred Scott v. Sandford•Court case that extended the rights of slaveholders and limited legal efforts to challenge slavery.•U.S. Supreme Court decision which determined that slaves (Dred Scott) could not sue in federal court because they did not have the rights of citizenship.

November 6, 1860- Lincoln Elected President

•Lincoln’s election made it clear that the nation was tired of compromise. •Lincoln stated that he would do nothing about slavery in the South. South seceded anyways. •Southerners did not trust him, viewed his victory as a threat to slavery and their way of life.

March 4, 1861- Abraham Lincoln Inaugurated

•In his inaugural address, President Lincoln assured the South that he would not abolish slavery there. •He spoke strongly against secession, but did not want to pressure the South into staying in the Union.

April 12, 1861- Fort Sumter

• Federal fort in harbor of Charleston, South Carolina• First Battle of the Civil War.• Fought in Charleston Harbor, few casualties on either side raised false hopes for a quick war.•Victor = Confederacy•Casualties= Union- 11, Confederacy -4

April 15, 1861- Lincoln calls for Militiamen• After the surrender of Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South

Carolina, President Abraham Lincoln called up 75,000 militiamen to put down what he described as a rebellion against the authority of the federal government. On April 15, Lincoln's secretary of war sent a request to Virginia's governor for the state to furnish three regiments totaling 2,340 militiamen and officers. The following day Governor John Letcher refused to send troops "to subjugate the Southern States."

• The surrender of Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for volunteers radically changed the political situation in Virginia. The question that Virginians, including members of the convention, then faced was no longer whether secession was legal or wise or in the state's interest. The new question once the war began was which side to take, whether to fight with the United States against the Confederate states or with the Confederacy against the United States.

May 1861- Confederate Congress sets up Capital

•May 21st: The Confederacy moved its capital to Richmond. • Jefferson Davis felt the Confederate capital should be more in the deep South, but Richmond, VA was chosen as

July 21, 1861- First Battle of Bull Run

• What• A Union army, consisting of 28,000 men fought 33,000

Confederates.• 1stbattle of the Civil War.

• When• July 21, 1861

• Where• Bull Run Creek, Manassas VA

• Significance• The battle proved that this was not going to be a one sided war for

either side, as was predicted• The battle spurred a sense of victory in the South, pushing them on,

and in the North a feeling for revenge.

February 1862: Fort Henry & Fort Donelson

• Who• Union: Ulysses S. Grant• Confederate: ~ not important~ (Gen

Lloyd Tilghman/John B. Floyd)

• When/Where• When: Feb. 6 1862: Henry

• Feb 11-16, 1862: Donelson• Where: Tennessee

• What• Total Dead: 17,517• Part of Anaconda Plan• Divide Confederacy @ Mississippi• 11 Days: Captured 2 Confederate Forts

• Who Won?• Union

• So What? (Results)• Grant establishes reputation as a solid

General – Known as “ Unconditional Surrender Grant”

• Begins to divide Confederacy

March 9, 1862: Warships Monitor & Merrimack

• What• First Battle of Iron-armored battleships

• When• March 9 1862

• Where• Hampton Roads, VA –The James River

• Significance• It was history’s first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of

naval warfare.

• The Virginia’s (Merrimack) spectacular success on March 8, the day before, marked an end to the day of wooden navies and raised hope in the South that the Union blockade might be broken.

April 6, 1862: Battle of Shiloh

• Who• Union: Ulysses S. Grant/Don Carlos Buell• Confederate: Albert S. Johnston/Pgt.

Beauregard

• When/Where• When: April 6-7, 1862

Where: Tennessee

• What• Total Dead: 23,746• Grant’s troops resting @ church near Shiloh,

TN• Not prepared for battle• Not enough patrol• Confederate troops surprise attack

• Grant reorganizes troops & defeats Confederacy

• Who Won?• Union

• So What? (Results)• Strategic Lesson: importance of scouts &

fortifications• Emphasized the bloodiness of war• ¼ of the 100,000 who fought died,

wounded or were captured

April 25, 1862: New Orleans falls to Union Forces

• Who• Union: David Farragut (60 years old)• Confederate: ~ not important~

(Mansfield Lovell)

• When/Where• When: April 25 – May 1, 1862

Where: New Orleans, LA

• What• Total Dead: 0• Union Fleet: 40 Ships approach New

Orleans – CRUCIAL PORT• Took over the 2 Confederate Ships

• Who Won?• Union

• So What? (Results)• Blockading Ports: esp. this crucial port• Can split Confederacy from North/South

Mississippi

June 25-July 1 1862: Seven Days’ Battles

• Who• Union: George McClellan• Confederate: Robert E. Lee

• When/Where• When: June 25 – July 1 , 1862

Where: Virginia

• What• Total Dead: 37,957• 6 battles in 7 days• Lee’s attempt to save Richmond

(Confederate Capital)• Used unorthodox method to move

McClellan from Richmond

• Who Won?• Confederate (although they lost

more men)

• So What? (Results)• McClellan’s “Army of the Potomac”

pushed back

September 17, 1862: Battle of Antietam

• Who• Union: George McClellan

Confederate: Robert E. Lee

• When/Where• When: Sept. 17, 1862

Where: Sharpsburg, Maryland

• What• Total Dead:• 23,100-26,000• 1st battle on Northern soil• McClellan’s troops take on Lee’s Army• McClellan was aggressive• BUT didn’t chase Lee’s troops when they

retreated!

• Who Won?• Inconclusive (Strategically Union

victory)

• So What? (Results)• BLOODIEST SINGLE DAY BATTLE in

American History• ¼ of Lee’s Army lost• McClellan is fired by Lincoln in November

1862 for having “the Slows”

November 1862: Lincoln relieves McCellan of command

•On this day in 1862, a tortured relationship ends when President Abraham Lincoln removes General George B. McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac. McClellan ably built the army in the early stages of the war but was a sluggish and paranoid field commander who seemed unable to muster the courage to aggressively engage Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

January 1863: Emancipation Proclamation is Issued

Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation• Free slaves in rebel territories

only• Military order by Commander-in-

Chief• Effective Jan. 1, 1863

Lincoln’s Logic1. Rebels use slave labor2. Northern morale was low3. End possibility of

England/France joining South

Reactions to Proclamation• Symbolic value - gives war

high moral purpose• Free blacks fight – 160,000 –

turns tide of war• Northern Dems claim: will

prolong war – WHY?• Confederacy: more

determined to preserve way of life

• Alienation!• Compromise no longer

possible - one side must defeat the other

March 1863: Union Passes the Draft Law

• A.K.A. -The Enrollment Act- (also known as the Civil War Military Draft Act)• was legislation passed by congress during the Civil War to

provide fresh manpower for the Union Army. • A form of conscription, the controversial act required the

enrollment of every male citizen and those immigrants who had filed for citizenship between ages twenty and forty-five. Federal agents established a quota of new troops due from each congressional district. In some cities, particularly New York City, enforcement of the act sparked civil unrest as the war dragged on, leading to the New York Draft Riots on July 13–16. It replaced the previous Militia Act 1862.

July 1863: Battle of Gettysburg & Vicksburg

• VicksburgLocation: Mississippi Dates: May 18-July 4, 1863 Estimated Casualties: 35,825 total (US 4,550; CS 31,275)Results: Union victory

• GettysburgState: Pennsylvania Dates: July 1-3, 1863 Principal Forces Engaged: 158,300 total (83,289 [US];75,054 [CS]) Estimated Casualties: 51,000 total (US 23,000; CS 28,000)Results: Union victory

March 1864: Grant put in charge of all Union Armies

• President Abraham Lincoln signs a brief document officially promoting then-Major General Ulysses S. Grant to the rank of lieutenant general of the U.S. Army, tasking the future president with the job of leading all Union troops against the Confederate Army.

• In the spring of 1864, Grant summarized his plans for the armies to President Lincoln. He intended to "employ all the force of all the armies continuously and concurrently, so that there should be no recuperation on the part of the rebels, no rest from attack." He had grasped a truth that had eluded many other Union generals: even if the armies won no battles, they would win the war by continuing to advance, wearing down their outnumbered enemies. His object would not be to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, but to destroy the Rebel armies.

June 1864: Battle of Cold Harbor

• Date: May 31 – June 12, 1864

• Location: Hanover County, Virginia

• Result: Confederate victory

• Commanders and leaders• Union- Ulysses S. Grant• Confederates- George G. Meade

Robert E. Lee

• Strength• Union- 108,000 • Confederates- 59,000

• Casualties and losses• Union-

• 12,737 total• 1,844 killed• 9,077 wounded• 1,816 captured/missing

• Confederate-• 5,287 total• 788 killed• 3,376 wounded• 1,123 captured/missing

September 1864: Sherman Takes Atlanta, GA

• AtlantaState: GeorgiaDates: July 22 (started campaign for Atlanta in May, not successfully captured until September.) Estimated Casualties: 12,140 total (US 3,641; CS 8,499)Results: Union victory

Sherman's Atlanta campaign began on May 4, 1864, and in the first few months his troops engaged in several fierce battles with Confederate soldiers on the outskirts of the city, including the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, which the Union forces lost. However, on September 1, Sherman's men successfully captured Atlanta and continued to defend it through mid-November against Confederate forces led by John Hood. Before he set off on his famous March to the Sea on November 15, Sherman ordered that Atlanta's military resources, including munitions factories, clothing mills and railway yards, be burned. The fire got out of control and left Atlanta in ruins.

November 1864: Lincoln is reelected

• Northern voters overwhelmingly endorse the leadership and policies of President Abraham Lincoln when they elect him to a second term. With his re-election, any hope for a negotiated settlement with the Confederacy vanished.

• Abraham Lincoln ran as the Republican (National Union Party) nominee against Democratic candidate George B. McClellan, who ran as the "peace candidate" without personally believing in his party's platform.

• Lincoln was re-elected president. Electoral College votes were counted from 25 states. Since the election of 1860, the Electoral College had expanded with the admission of Kansas, West Virginia, and Nevada as free-soil states. As the American Civil War was still raging, no electoral votes were counted from any of the eleven Southern states. Lincoln won by more than 400,000 popular votes on the strength of the soldier vote and military successes such as the Battle of Atlanta. Lincoln was the first president to be re-elected since Andrew Jackson in 1832

December 1864: Sherman march to the Sea

•After leaving the decimated city of Atlanta on November 16, Sherman led his troops on a destructive campaign which concluded with the capture of the port city of Savannah on December 21.• It is known for its boldness as well as the sheer destruction inflicted on the south, both to its industry as well as military targets, effectively destroying the Confederate’s capacity to wage war.

January 1865: 13th Amendment is passed by Congress

•abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime

April 1865: Lee Surrenders at Appomattox Court House

• The signing of the surrender documents occurred in the parlor of the house owned by Wilmer McLean on the afternoon of April 9.

• On April 12, a formal ceremony marked the disbandment of the Army of Northern Virginia and the parole of its officers and men, effectively ending the war in Virginia. This event triggered a series of surrenders across the south, signaling the end of the war.

• Although Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia, the war was not over. There were still Confederate armies in the field and the final battle of the war would not happen until in May 12–13 in south Texas, at the battle of Palmito (Palmetto) Ranch near Brownsville. However, Confederate commanders did begin to surrender as news of the Army of Northern Virginia’s surrender spread.

• Letters of the Surrender-• http://

www.civilwar.org/battlefields/appomattox-courthouse/appomattox-court-house-history/surrender.html

April 1865: Lincoln is Assassinated

•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.