American Civil War timeline
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Lincoln Uses Judicial Notice in the "Armstrong Case"
The Trial The acquittal represented a personal and professional triumph for Lincoln, who once rocked the defendant's cradle in New Salem.... Read more
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Abraham Lincoln Delivers the House Divided Speech
A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the... Read more
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Lincoln Loses First of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates on Slavery
August 21, 1858, was the day that Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas met in Ottawa, Illinois, in the first of the famous Lincoln-Douglas... Read more
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Freeport Doctrine Is Focal Point in Douglas' Argument at the Second Lincoln-Douglas Debate
At Freeport Lincoln challenged Douglas to reconcile popular sovereignty with the Dred Scott decision. Douglas replied that settlers could... Read more
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Third Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Slave State Borders
MR. DOUGLAS’ SPEECH. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I appear before you today in pursuance of a previous notice, and have made arrangements with Mr.... Read more
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Fourth Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Coles County Fairgrounds
Fourth Joint Debate at Charleston Mr. Lincoln’s Speech (September 18, 1858) LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: It will be very difficult for an... Read more
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Douglas Seeks to Prove that Lincoln was an Abolitionist at the Fifth Lincoln-Douglas Debate
At Galesburg Douglas sought again to prove that Lincoln was an abolitionist with the following quotes from Lincoln: “I should like to know, if... Read more
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Lincoln Declares Slavery a Moral Wrong in the Sixth Lincoln-Douglas Debate
It was, wrote Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer of the Quincy Debate between U.S. Senate candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas, “the... Read more
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The Slave Debate Comes to a Head at the Seventh and Final Lincoln-Douglas Debate
SENATOR DOUGLAS’ SPEECH. Long and loud bursts of applause greeted Senator Douglas when he appeared on the stand. As he was about to commence... Read more
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Douglass Flees to Canada After Harper's Ferry Raid
John Brown and other abolitionist followers raid the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, then in Virginia. He plans to start a slave insurrection and... Read more
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Anonymous Letters Claim Lee Had Escaped Slaves Whipped
In 1859, three of the Arlington slaves—Wesley Norris, his sister Mary, and a cousin of theirs—fled for the North, but were captured a few miles... Read more
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John Brown Leads Raid on Harpers Ferry
Late on the night of October 16, 1859, John Brown and twenty-one armed followers stole into the town of Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now West... Read more
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Abraham Lincoln Elected 16th President of the United States
Lincoln was chosen as the Republican candidate for the 1860 election for several reasons. His expressed views on slavery were seen as more moderate... Read more
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First State (South Carolina) Secedes from Union
On December 20, 1860, when it became clear that Lincoln would be the next president, South Carolina became the first state to declare its secession... Read more
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James D. Bulloch Acts as European Agent for the Confederacy
Naval service and European agent of Confederacy Bulloch served in the United States Navy for 14 years before joining a private shipping company.... Read more
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"Blind Tom" Wiggins composes "The Battle of Manassas"
Battle of Manassas was written by Thomas Wiggins (aka "Blind Tom") at the age of 12. It is a programmatic work which describes the first major... Read more
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Mississippi Secedes from the Union
A Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union. In the... Read more
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Davis Delivers Last Speech before the U.S. Senate
His renewed service in the Senate was interrupted by an illness that threatened him with the loss of his left eye. Still nominally serving in the... Read more
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Jefferson Davis Becomes First President of the Confederate States of America at Confederate Constitutional Convention in Montgomery, Alabama
Four days after his resignation, Davis was commissioned a Major General of Mississippi troops. On February 9, 1861, a Constitutional convention at... Read more
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The Baltimore Plot to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln
The Baltimore Plot was an alleged conspiracy in late February 1861 to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln en route to his inauguration.... Read more
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Ohio Representative Proposes Corwin Amendment
The Corwin Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution passed by the United States Congress on March 2, 1861. Ohio... Read more
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Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
The mystic chords of memory . . . will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our... Read more
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Congress Ratifies Confederate Constitution
The states that left the American Union in 1860 and 1861 brought with them a rich tradition of constitutionalism. Many Southern Leaders explained... Read more
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Alexander Stephens Delivers the Cornerstone Speech
The Cornerstone Speech was delivered by Confederate Vice President, Alexander Stephens extemporaneously in Savannah, Georgia on March 21, 1861. The... Read more
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Aaron Van Camp Takes Part in Confederate Spy Ring
Aaron Van Camp (June 23, 1816–September 15, 1892) was an espionage agent for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He... Read more