1860
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| February | Senator Jefferson Davis intoduces a bill saying that the federal government cannot prohibit slavery but must safeguard the rights of slaveholders. |
| May | The Republicans nominate Abraham Lincoln to run for president. |
| June | Following a walkout by southern delegates, the Democrats select Stephen Douglas to run for president. Those who had left the convention chose John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky to run for president on a platform calling for the protection of slavery. Southerners make it clear that they will secede if Lincoln is elected president. |
| November 6 | Abraham Lincoln is elected president. |
| December 3 | In his final address, President Buchanan says that the states have no right to secede but that the federal government can do nothing to prevent such an action. |
| December 20 | South Carolina votes to secede from the Union. |
1861
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| February 4 | The six states that thus far have seceded from the Union, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana, form the Confederate States of America. |
| February 9 | Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederate States of America. His vice president is Alexander Stephens. |
| April 12 | South Carolina attacks Fort Sumter, located in the harbor of South Carolina. |
| April 15 | President Lincoln proclaims "a state of insurrection" (Davis, 1996, p. 180), and calls for 75,000 three month volunteers. Any black volunteers are rejected. |
| May 13 | Great Britain's Queen Victoria declares her country's neutrality. While not officially recognizing the Confederacy, Great Britain grants the Confederacy "belligerent status" (Davis, 1996, p. 180). |
| May 24 | Union troops move into Alexandria, Virginia. A man by the name of Elmer Ellsworth becomes the first person to die in combat during the Civil War. A close friend of President Lincoln, Ellsworth was shot while removing a Confederate flag from a hotel roof. The hotelkeeper who shot Ellsworth, James T. Jackson, is killed by union troops. Ellsworth's body lies in state at the White House, and both men became instant martyrs to their respective sides. |
| July 2 | The constitutional right of habeas corpus in exceptional cases in a limited area between Washington and New York is suspended by President Lincoln. |
| July 21 | Battle of First Bull Run (First Manassas). The Confederates won this battle which was witnessed by residents of Washington, D.C., who had come by carriage and expected to see the Civil War end in a day. |
| July 22 | The war is being fought to "preserve the Union" (Davis, 1996, p. 180), not to abolish slavery, as stated by a congressional resolution. |
| August 5 | To help finance the war, the first income tax is passed. |
| August 30 | Union General John C. Fremont institutes martial law and frees the slaves of any secessionists in Missouri. This is overruled by Lincoln in September, and Fremont is transferred. |