This timeline of events leading up to the American Civil War describes and links to narrative articles and references about many of the events and issues which historians recognize as origins and causes of the Civil War. The pre-Civil War events can be roughly divided into a period encompassing the long term build-up over many decades and a period encompassing the five-month build to war immediately after the election of Abraham Lincoln as President in the Election of 1860 which culminated in the Fall of Fort Sumter (April 1861).
Since the early colonial period in Virginia, slavery had been a part of the socioeconomic system of British North America and was recognized in the Thirteen Colonies at the time of the United States' Declaration of Independence (1776). Since then, events and statements by politicians and others brought forth differences, tensions and divisions between the people of the slave states of the Southern United States and the people of the free states of the Northern United States (including Western states) over the topics of slavery. The large underlying issue from which other issues developed was whether slavery should be retained and even expanded to other areas or whether it should be contained and eventually abolished. Over many decades, these issues and divisions became increasingly irreconcilable and contentious.
Events in the 1850s culminated with the election of the anti-slavery-expansion Republican Abraham Lincoln as President on November 6, 1860. This provoked the first round of state secessions as leaders of the Deep South cotton states were unwilling to remain in a second class political status with their way of life threatened by the President himself. Initially, the seven Deep South states seceded, with economies based on cotton (then in heavy European demand with rising prices). They were Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas. After the Confederates attacked and captured Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called for volunteers to march south and suppress the rebellion. This pushed the four other Upper South States (Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas) also to secede. These states completed the formation of the Confederate States of America. Their addition to the Confederacy ensured a war would be prolonged and bloody because they contributed territory and soldiers.
Video Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War
Colonial period, 1607-1775
Maps Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War
American Revolution and Confederation period, 1776-1787
Early period under the Constitution, 1787-1811
1812 to 1849
Compromise of 1850 through 1860 election
1860 election, November 6, 1860, to fall of Fort Sumter, April 14, 1861
- The most significant, but not quite all, notable events related to government, secession of states, actions of key individuals, and initiation of the American Civil War that occurred between November 6, 1860 and April 15, 1861 follow.
Aftermath 1861: Further secessions and divisions
- Additional events related to secession and initiation of the war follow; most other events after April 15 are not listed.
Several small skirmishes and battles as well as bloody riots in St. Louis and Baltimore took place in the early months of the war. The Battle of First Bull Run or Battle of First Manassas, the first major battle of the war, occurred on July 21, 1861. After that, it became clear that there could be no compromise between the Union and the seceding states and that a long and bloody war could not be avoided. All hope of a settlement short of a catastrophic war was lost.
See also
- Issues of the American Civil War
- Battles of the American Civil War
- Origins of the American Civil War
- Slavery in the United States
- Timeline of the African-American Civil Rights Movement
- Bibliography of the American Civil War
- Bibliography of Abraham Lincoln
- Bibliography of Ulysses S. Grant
Notes
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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