Before the civil war

1853 - Gadsden Purchase territory is signed; U.S. acquires border territory from Mexico for $10 million

1854 – The Kansas- Nebraska Act established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The legislation repeals the Missouri compromise of 1820 and renews tensions between anti- and proslavery factions.

1857 – Dred Scott vs. Sanford it holds that congress does not have the right to ban slavery in states and that slaves is not citizens.

1859 – John Brown’s followers captured federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, in an attempt to spark a slave revolt.

1860 – South Carolina secedes from the union. Shortly after Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas secede from the union.

During the Civil War

February 9, 1861 – Jefferson Davis is elected president of confederacy.

April 12, 1861 – Fort Sumter was the making of the start of the war.

June 17, 1861 – Boonville, Missouri wanted the state to secede and join the confederacy.

January 1, 1863 – Emancipation Proclamation is issued, freeing slaves in confederate states.

January 1, 1863 – Homestead Act becomes a law, allowing settlers to claim land.

July 1 – 3, 1863 – Battle of Gettysburg was the most famous civil war battle that occurred. At the end it involved 160,000 Americans.

April 3, 1865 – General Ulysses S. Grant captures Richmond, Virginia the capitol.

April 9, 1865 – Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

April 14, 1865 – John Wilkes Booth is succeeded by Vice President, Andrew Jackson.

December 6, 1865 - Thirteenth Amendment is ratified, prohibiting slavery.

Works Cited:

1850-1899. 2000. 21 Apr. 2004 <http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0903595.html>.