August 1619 English settlers in Jamestown, Virginia purchase 20 black Africans from a Dutch slave ship. July 1776 The Declaration of Independence, stating that all men are created equal is adopted on July 4 th. It is signed by many men who are slaveowners. October 1793 Eli Whitney applies for a patent on a cotton gin. March 1820 Congress passes the Missouri Compromise. January 1831 William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper. August 1831 Nat Turner leads a rebellion of slaves in Southampton County, Virginia. August 1839 The Spanish slave ship Amistad carrying 53 African slaves is taken over in a mutiny led by Cinque, one of the slaves. September 1850 Congress passes the Compromise of 1850. March 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe s novel Uncle Tom s Cabin is published. May 1854 The Kansas-Nebraska Act is adopted by Congress.
September 1850 Congress. The Fugitive Slave Act is passed by March 1857 The United States Supreme Court hands down its decision in the Dred Scott case.] October 1859 John Brown leads an armed group that seizes the Federal arsenal at Harper s Ferry, Virginia. November 1860 United States. Abraham Lincoln is elected President of the December 20, 1860 South Carolina secedes from the Union. January 9, 1861 Mississippi secedes from the Union. January 10, 1861 Florida secedes from the Union. January 11, 1861 Alabama secedes from the Union. January 19, 1861 Georgia secedes from the Union. January 26, 1861 Louisiana secedes from the Union.
January 29, 1861 state. Kansas is admitted to the Union as the 34 th February 1, 1861 Texas secedes from the Union. February 4, 1861 The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America meets for the first time in Montgomery, Alabama. February 9, 1861 Jefferson Davis is elected provisional president of the Confederate States of America. Alexander Stephens is chosen to be vice-president. March 4, 1861 Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16 th President of the United States. March 16, 1861 Confederacy. Arizona votes to leave the Union and join the April 12, 1861 (4:30 am) Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter, a Union fort in the Charleston, South Carolina harbor. April 15, 1861 President Lincoln issues a call for 75,000 volunteers to stop the insurrection in South Carolina. April 19, 1861 President Lincoln orders the blockade of all ports in the Confederate states.
April 18, 1861 Robert E. Lee, a Virginian, is asked by President Lincoln to command the Union army. Lee refuses. April 27, 1861 President Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in an area from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C. May 3, 1861 The Anaconda Plan begins. May 6, 1861 Arkansas voted to secede from the Union. May 13, 1861 Britain s Queen Victoria announces her nation s position of neutrality in the American conflict. May 20, 1861 North Carolina votes to secede from the Union. May 20, 1861 Confederates vote to move their capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia. May 23, 1861 Virginia votes to secede from the Union. The western part of the state, however, remains pro-union. May 24, 1861 Elmer Ellsworth of the 11 th New York dies, the first Union combat fatality of the Civil War.
May 31, 1861 General P.G.T. Beauregard is given command of Confederate forces in northern Virginia. June 8, 1861 At a public referendum, Tennessee votes to secede from the Union. June 10, 1861 Fighting occurs at Bethel Church, Virginia. June 17, 1861 Professor Thaddeus Lowe demonstrates for President Lincoln the use of a hot-air balloon. Some people suggest it may be valuable in war. July 2, 1861 The state legislature of West Virginia meets for the first time having been recognized as a state. July 4, 1861 President Lincoln calls for an additional 400,000 volunteers to aid the Union. July 5, 1861 Fighting occurs in Carthage, Missouri. July 13, 1861 Fighting occurs at Carrickford, Virginia. July 18, 1861 Fighting occurs at Blackburn s Ford, Virginia. July 21, 1861 The Battle of Bull Run / Manassas the first major battle of the Civil War.
July 25, 1861 In the United States Senate, the Crittenden Resolution passes, 30-5. July 27, 1861 President Lincoln hands over command of the Federal Army of the Potomac to General George McClellan. August 2, 1861 income tax bill. The U.S. Congress passes the first national August 10, 1861 Missouri. Fighting occurs at Wilson s Creek, September 11, 1861 Virginia. Fighting at Cheat Mountain, western
12 October 1861 John Slidell, Confederate Commissioner to France, and James Mason, Commissioner to Britain, slip past the Union blockade in the ship, Theodora. They are traveling to Europe to try to get recognition of the Confederacy by European powers. 1 November 1861 Union General Winfield Scott resigns from his post as General-in- Chief of the Union Army. 1 November 1861 General George McClellan takes over as General-in-Chief of the Union Army. 6 November 1861 Jefferson Davis is elected to a 6-year term as President of the Confederate States of America. 7 November 1861 Fighting at Belmont, Missouri 8 November 1861 The British ship, the Trent, carrying Sliddell and Mason, two Confederate Commissioners on their way to Europe, is overtaken by the San Jacinto. This strains relations between the U.S., Britain and France.
18 November 1861 In Kentucky, Confederate soldiers meet and vote to secede which results in Kentucky having two governments, one pro-union, the other pro-secession. 28 November 1861 The Provisional Congress at Richmond formally admits Missouri to the Confederacy. 3 December 1861 President Lincoln makes his State of the Union address to Congress. ( the Union must be preserved ) 4 December 1861 Britain s Queen Victoria issues a statement prohibiting any exports to the United States, including weapons or materials for their production. 10 December 1861 The Congress of the Confederacy admits Kentucky as the 13 th state, even though most of Kentucky s citizens are against it. Within a month, however, Confederate forces have given up their claim on the state. 11 December 1861 Fire in Charleston, South Carolina destroys half of the city, including much of the business district.
15 January 1862 Edwin Stanton replaces Simon Cameron as the Union Secretary of War. 8 February 1862 Fighting at Roanoke Island, North Carolina. 6 February 1862 Union General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Henry in Tennessee. 16 February 1862 Union General U.S. Grant captures Fort Donelson in Tennessee, a major victory for the North. 20 February 1862 12-year old Willie Lincoln dies of typhoid fever. 21 February 1862 Convicted slave trader Nathaniel Gordon is hanged in New York City, the first time the Union has ever imposed this punishment. 7-8 March 1862 Fighting at Pea Ridge, Arkansas.
9 March 1862 The USS Monitor and the CSS Merrimack battle in the harbor at Hampton Roads, Virginia, the first battle if two ironclads. 14 March 1862 Fighting at New Berne, North Carolina. March 1862 President Lincoln backs a plan to pay slaveholders for the emancipation of slaves. 6-7 April 1862 The Battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburgh Landing 16 April 1862 A Confederate Conscription Act is passed. 25 April 1862 Union Flag Officer David G. Farragut captures the Confederate city of New Orleans 3 May 1862 Yorktown, Virginia is evacuated by Confederate General Joseph Johnston s troops. U.S. General George McClellan s forces enter the city the following day.
8 May 1862 The Battle of McDowell, a major encounter in the Shenandoah Valley. 11 May 1862 The Confederate Navy destroys its own ironclad, the Merrimack, to keep it from falling into enemy hands. 16 May 1862 Union General Benjamin Butler, Military Governor of New Orleans, issues General Order No. 28. 23 May 1862 Fighting at Front Royal, West Virginia. 25 May 1862 President Lincoln tells General McClellan to either attack Richmond or give up the job and come to the defense of Washington. 31 May 1862 CSS General Robert E. Lee named as Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia 31 May 1862 The Battle of Fair Oaks, of Seven Pines
12 June 1862 Confederate Cavalry General J.E.B. Stuart s First Ride around McClellan. 26 June 1862 The Seven Days Battles begin. Fighting occurs at Mechanicsville, Gaines Mills, Savage s Station, Frayser s Farm, and Malvern Hill. 11 July 1862 President Lincoln appoints General Henry Halleck to the position of General-in-Chief of the Union Army. 14 July 1862 Congress passes a law creating the state of West Virginia 17 July 1862 President Lincoln signs the Second Confiscation Act into law. 22 July 1862 President Lincoln presents his Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet 9 August Fighting at Cedar Mountain, Virginia
19 August 1862 Horace Greeley, the editor of the New York Tribune, criticizes President Lincoln s stance on slavery in a letter titled The Prayer of Twenty Millions 22 August 1862 President Lincoln responds to Horace Greeley s letter pointing out that his main objective is to save the Union. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it. 1 December 1862 Lincoln issues his 3 rd State of the Union address 13 December 1862 The Battle of Fredericksburg 15 December 1862 General Benjamin Butler is removed as military governor of New Orleans
29 August 1862 The Second Battle of Bull Run, or Manassas 13 September 1862 Union soldiers discover General Lee s orders for a Confederate invasion of Maryland 17 September 1862 The Battle of Antietam 22 September 1862 President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, to take effect January 1, 1863 8 October 1862 The Battle of Perryville, Kentucky 5 November 1862 President Lincoln removes General George McClellan from his post as head of the army of the Potomac. He is replaced by Major General Ambrose Burnside