The War Between the States

Civil War Time Line

1619 First slaves arrive in America. 1652 Rhode Island declares slavery illegal. 1688 The first public protest of the slave trade occurs in Pennsylvania. 1700 Virginia declares that slaves are the personal property of their owners. New York sentences runaways slaves to death. 1725 Virginia gives slaves the right to form their own church. 1739 Slaves rebel in South Carolina and 44 slaves are killed. 1754 Quaker, John Woolman, speaks out against slavery. 1777 Vermont outlaws slavery. 1783 Massachusetts outlaws slavery. 1792 Kentucky enters the Union as a slave state. 1793 The Fugitive Slave Law is passed. 1796 Tennessee joins the Union as a slave state. 1800 Free blacks petition Congress to end slavery. Armed slaves rebel in Virginia and are executed. 1803 Ohio joins the Union as a free state. U. S. buys the Louisiana Territory and increases the debate on slave status. 1808 Congress outlaws slave trade, but slavery continues. 1812 Louisiana joins the Union as a slave state. 1816 Indiana joins the Union as a free state. 1817 Mississippi joins the Union as a slave state. 1818 Illinois joins the Union as a free state. 1819 Alabama joins the Union as a slave state. 1820 Missouri Compromise: Slavery is banned north of 36 degrees, 30' except in Missouri. 1822 Slaves rebel in South Carolina and 37 are hanged. 1827 New York outlaws slavery. 1828 South Carolina argues that states are not subject to Federal laws. 1830 States rights vs. strong central government is debated in Congress. 1831 The Liberator is published by William Lloyd Garrison. Virginia passes stricter slave laws after slave rebellion. 1832 Congress passes new tax law that favors the industry in the North. South Carolina encourages Southern states to secede. President Andrew Jackson declares that succession is illegal. 1833 Lucretia Mott forms the Female Anti-Slavery Society. The American Anti-Slavery Society is formed. Blacks are admitted to Oberlin College in Ohio. 1835 Abolitionist literature is burned in South Carolina. Georgia threatens abolitionist writers with death penalty. 1836 Arkansas is admitted to the Union as a slave state 1837 Michigan is admitted to the Union as a free state. 1845 Florida and Texas are admitted as slave states. 1848 Wisconsin joins Union as free state. 1850 Compromise of 1850: Some western territories can decide to allow slavery and the Fugitive Slave Law is strengthened to recapture runaway slaves. Southern states declare they will secede if the Compromise of 1850 is not supported. 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin. Franklin Pierce, a pro-slavery candidate, is elected President. 1853 Jefferson Davis becomes Secretary of War for Pierce administration. 1854 Kansas Nebraska Act splits western settlers. 1855 Pro-slavery forces declare victory in Kansas. 1856 Pro-slavery candidate, James Buchanan, is elected President. 1857 The Supreme Court rules that Dred Scott is the personal property of his owner and must be returned. Congress debates whether Kansas should be admitted as a free or a slave state. 1858 Minnesota joins Union as free state. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debate slavery issues in their campaign for the Senate. Douglas wins election. 1859 Oregon joins Union as free state. Arkansas forces free blacks to leave the state. Southerners discuss reinstating the slave trade. John Brown attacks Harpers Ferry and is executed. 1860 November Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th President of the United States. December 12 South Carolina secedes and other states begin to vote on secession. 1861 February The Confederate States of America is established and Jefferson Davis is elected President. February 4 Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina secede from the Union and form the Confederate States of America. March 2 Texas joins the Confederacy. April Fort Sumter, South Carolina is fired on and surrenders to the Confederacy. April Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas join the Confederacy. April President Lincoln authorizes a blockade of the Southern ports to stop trade with Europe. May Richmond, Virginia becomes the capital of the Confederacy. July The Confederates win the Battle at Bull Run (Manassas), Virginia. August The Confederates win the Battle of Wilson's Creek (Missouri). November General George McClellan is named Commander in Chief of the U.S. Army replacing General Winfield Scott. 1862 February General U.S. Grant and the Union Army capture Fort Henry and For Donelson in Tennessee. March The war at sea begins with a battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack. March through May The Union forces are driven from the Shenandoah Valley by General T. J. "Stonewall" Jackson and his men. March through July General McClellan orders Union troops toward Richmond, Virginia. April General Grant and men are almost defeated at Shiloh. April The Confederate Army begins drafting soldiers. April The Union Army under Admiral David Farragut captures New Orleans, Louisiana. June and July The Union fails to capture Richmond, Virginia during the Seven Days' battles. August The Confederate Army defeats the Union Army at Bull Run (Manassas), Virginia again. September Both sides lose many men at the Battle of Antietam, Maryland and General Lee and his men retreat to Virginia. September President Lincoln declares slavery illegal in the Southern States through the Emancipation Proclamation. 1863 March The Union Army begins drafting men. May The Union Army is defeated at Chancellorsville, Virginia, but the Confederates lose General Stonewall Jackson who is accidentally shot by his own men. May General Grant attacks Vicksburg, Mississippi. July Union forces defeat the Confederate Army at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This becomes the turning point of the war. July The Confederate Army at Vicksburg surrenders to the Union. The North now controls the Mississippi River. September - November General Grant and the Union Army take control of the Western States. 1864 March General Grant replaces General McClellan and is named the U. S. Army Commander in Chief. May General W. T. Sherman marches south to Georgia. June - April 1865 The Union Army begins its campaign for Petersburg, Virginia. July - September The Union Army attacks Atlanta, Georgia and captures the City. September - October General Sheridan's Ride in the Shenandoah Valley destroys crops which would feed the Confederate Army. This victory convinced the people to re-elect President Lincoln. November President Lincoln is re-elected. November - December General Sherman marches to the ocean. 1865 January - March General Sherman marches through the Carolinas March President Lincoln delivers is second Inaugural Speech. April Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia fall to Union troops. April General Lee surrenders to General Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia April President Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Jackson is named the 17th President of the United States. May The last Confederate troops surrender at New Orleans, Louisiana.