American Civil War timeline
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Douglass Subscribes to The Liberator
Douglass continued traveling up to Massachusetts. There he joined various organizations in New Bedford, including a black church, and regularly... Read more
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Douglass Speaks at Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society Convention
In 1841, Douglass spoke about his slave experiences at a convention of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society held on Nantucket Island. He... Read more
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Thomas J. Jackson is Accepted into the United States Military Academy
In 1842, Jackson was accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Because of his inadequate schooling, he had difficulty... Read more
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Abraham Lincoln Weds Mary Todd
On November 4, 1842 Lincoln married Mary Todd, daughter of a prominent slave-owning family from Kentucky. The couple had four sons. Robert Todd... Read more
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Douglass is Beaten by Mob
In 1843, Douglass participated in the Hundred Conventions project, the American Anti-Slavery Society's six month tour of meeting halls throughout... Read more
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Douglas is Elected to Congress
In Congress, though one of the youngest members, he at once sprang into prominence by his clever defense of Jackson during the consideration by the... Read more
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Davis Marries Varina Howell
The year 1844 saw Davis' first political success, as he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, taking office on March 4 of the... Read more
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Douglass Publishes Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Douglass' best-known work is his first autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, published in 1845. At the... Read more
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Douglass Delivers Speech - Intemperance and Slavery
Mr. Frederick Douglass said:—Ladies and Gentlemen,—The first sentiment that presses for utterance, is that of gratitude. I feel exceedingly... Read more
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Douglass Delivers Address in Ireland
Mr. Douglas(s) (for that is his name) proceeded to address them. He said slavery was a question in which every human being ought to feel a deep... Read more
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Douglas Joins the U.S. Senate
After three years in the House of Representatives, Douglas was eager to move on to the Senate. By 1846, his base in the Illinois state legislature... Read more
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Douglass Delivers London Reception Speech at Finsbury Chapel
Starting in August 1845, Douglass spent two years in Great Britain and Ireland, where he gave many lectures, mainly in Protestant churches or... Read more
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Lincoln Elected to Congress as Whig Representative from Illinois
In 1846 Lincoln was elected to one term in the U.S. House of Representatives. A staunch Whig, Lincoln often referred to party leader Henry Clay as... Read more
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David Wilmot Introduces Proviso as Preventative Slavery Measure
The Wilmot Proviso was introduced on August 8, 1846, in the United States House of Representatives as a rider on a $2 million appropriations bill... Read more
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Wilmot Proviso Is Introduced
The Wilmot Proviso was introduced on August 8, 1846, in the United States House of Representatives as a rider on a $2 million appropriations bill... Read more
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Douglass Delivers Address in Leeds, England
Mr. Frederick Douglass, whose appearance was hailed with loud and prolonged cheering[, spoke]. Of his long and eloquent address we can merely... Read more
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Douglas Marries Martha
Once in Washington, however, Douglas's mood shifted. In the House of Representatives, he struck up a friendship with a colleague, Congressman David... Read more
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Douglass Establishes Abolitionist Paper - The North Star
He used his oratorical skills in the ensuing years to lecture in the northern states against slavery. He also helped slaves escape to the North... Read more
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Douglass Participates in First Women's Rights Convention, Seneca Falls, New York
Frederick DouglassA crowd of about three hundred people, including forty men, came from five miles round. No woman felt capable of presiding; the... Read more
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Douglass Begins Sheltering Escaped Slaves Fleeing North on the "Underground Railroad."
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1818, and was given the name Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey... Read more
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Lee Departs for Fort Carroll
. . . . My days are spent pretty much at Fort Carroll (Sollers Point); My thoughts are engrossed with driving piles & laying stone. . . . Poor... Read more
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Lincoln Receives a Patent
As a young man, Abraham Lincoln took a boatload of merchandise down the Mississippi River from New Salem to New Orleans. At one point the boat slid... Read more
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Industry & Western Expansion #1
The United States exploded into war in 1861. Though the outcome of the Civil War cemented the Union causing dramatic change in the years leading up... Read more
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Henry Clay and Stephen Douglas Draft Compromise
Congress convened on December 3, 1849. On January 29, 1850, Whig Senator Henry Clay gave a speech which called for compromise on the issues... Read more
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Slavery Debate Labors on at Nashville Convention
The Nashville Convention was a political meeting held in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 3 – 11, 1850. Delegates from nine slave holding states met... Read more