More than 550,000 Americans died fighting the Civil War, including these men who fell during the bloody Battle of Antietam. This section of the timeline of United States history concerns events from 1860 to 1899 .
1860s
Presidency of James Buchanan U.S. territorial extent in 1860 April 3, 1860 – Pony Express begins. November 6 – 1860 United States presidential election : Abraham Lincoln elected president and Hannibal Hamlin vice president with only 39% of the vote in a four-man race. December 18 – Crittenden Compromise fails. December 20 – President Buchanan fires his cabinet. December 20 – South Carolina secedes from the Union January 9, 1861 – Secessionist forces in South Carolina fire at the USS Star of the West , forcing it to withdraw. January 9 – Mississippi secedes from the Union January 10 – Florida secedes from the Union January 11 – Alabama secedes from the Union January 19 – Georgia secedes from the Union January 26 – Louisiana secedes from the Union February 1 – Texas secedes from the Union February 4 – Secessionist states establish the Confederate States of America February 9 – Jefferson Davis elected provisional president of the Confederacy. Alexander H. Stephens elected provisional vice president of the Confederacy. February 11 – Stephens becomes provisional vice president of the Confederate States. February 18 – Davis becomes provisional president of the Confederate States. March 2 – The Corwin Amendment to enshrine slavery forever is passed by Congress. It is not ratified.
Presidency of Abraham Lincoln March 4, 1861 – Lincoln becomes the 16th president and Hamlin becomes the 15th vice president 1861 – American Civil War begins at Fort Sumter 1861 – First Battle of Bull Run (First Battle of Manassas) 1861 – Davis unanimously elected to full term as Confederate president, Stephen unanimously elected to full term as Confederate vice president. February 22, 1862 – Davis becomes Confederate president, Stephens become Confederate vice president. 1862 – Battle of Hampton Roads (Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack; first ever naval battle between iron-sided ships) 1862 – Homestead Act 1862 – Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act 1862 – Gen. Robert E. Lee placed in command of the Army of Northern Virginia 1862 – Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Battle of Manassas) 1862 – Battle of Antietam (Battle of Sharpsburg) 1862 – Dakota War of 1862 begins 1862–1863 – Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation 1863 – Battle of Gettysburg 1863 – The Siege of Vicksburg ends 1863 – New York City draft riots 1863 – Pro-Union Virginia counties become separate state of West Virginia 1863 - Lincoln announces the 10% Plan 1864 – Gen. Ulysses S. Grant put in command of all Union forces 1864 – Wade–Davis Bill 1864 – Sand Creek massacre 1864 – Nevada becomes a state 1864 – U.S. presidential election, 1864 ; Abraham Lincoln is reelected president and Andrew Johnson elected vice president on the "fusion" Union Party ticket. 1864 – Sherman's March to the Sea 1865 – Robert E. Lee made commander-in-chief of all Confederate forces March 4, 1865 – President Lincoln begins second term; Johnson becomes the 16th vice president 1865 – Richmond, Virginia , the Confederate capital, captured by a corps of black Union troops 1865 – Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House 1865 – Freedmen's Bureau 1865 - the 13th Amendment was adopted, setting slaves free forever.
Presidency of Andrew Johnson
Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant
1870s U.S. territorial extent in 1870 1870 – 15th Amendment 1870 – First graduate programs (at Yale and Harvard ) 1870 – Black Codes 1870 - Virginia , Mississippi , Texas , and Georgia are readmitted to the union 1871 – Great Chicago Fire 1871 – Treaty of Washington with the British Empire regarding Canada 1871 - The New York Times published evidence of Tweed's rampant greed . 1871 - Civil Service Reform Act passes 1871 - Ku Klux Klan Act 1872 – Yellowstone National Park created 1872 – Crédit Mobilier scandal 1872 – Amnesty Act 1872 – Alabama Claims 1872 – U.S. presidential election, 1872 : Ulysses S. Grant reelected president; Henry Wilson elected vice president 1872 - Victoria Claflin Woodhull , first woman presidential candidate, enters presidential race. 1873 – Panic of 1873 March 4, 1873 – President Grant begins second term; Wilson becomes the 18th vice president 1873 – Virginius Affair 1873 - One of the first schools of nursing opens at Bellevue Hospital in New York 1874 – Red River Indian War 1874 - National Woman's Christian Temperance Union formed in Cleveland 1875 – Aristides (horse) wins first Kentucky Derby 1875 – Resumption Act 1875 – Civil Rights Act of 1875 1875 – The Art Students League of New York is founded November 22, 1875 – Vice President Wilson dies 1875 - Whiskey Ring Scandal 1876 – National League of baseball founded 1876 – Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia 1876 – Munn v. Illinois 1876 – Colorado becomes a state 1876 – Battle of Little Bighorn 1876 - Central Park opens in New York City 1876 – Wild Bill Hickok is killed by a shot to the back of his head by Jack McCall while playing poker in Deadwood, South Dakota . He held aces and eights , now known as the Dead man's hand . 1876 – U.S. presidential election, 1876 seemingly elects Samuel J. Tilden president and Thomas A. Hendricks vice president, but results are disputed with 20 Electoral College votes allegedly in doubt. 1877 – The Electoral Commission awards Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency and William A. Wheeler the vice presidency in return for ending the military occupation of the South. 1877 – Great Railroad Strike of 1877
Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes
1880s U.S. territorial extent in 1880
Presidency of James A. Garfield March 4, 1881 – Garfield becomes the 20th president; Arthur becomes the 20th vice president. July 2, 1881 – President Garfield is shot by a deranged gunman on a train platform.
Presidency of Chester A. Arthur
First presidency of Grover Cleveland
Presidency of Benjamin Harrison March 4, 1889 – Harrison becomes the 23rd president and Morton becomes the 22nd vice president 1889 – Oklahoma Land Rush (April 22, 1889) 1889 – Centennial of the Constitution celebrated. 1889 – North Dakota , South Dakota , Montana and Washington become states 1889 – Johnstown Flood in Pennsylvania 1889 – Jane Addams founds Hull House December 6, 1889 – Former Confederate president Jefferson Davis dies. 1889 - During a speech given by Benjamin Harrison, he becomes the first U.S. president in history to have a voice recording.
1890s
Second presidency of Grover Cleveland
Presidency of William McKinley March 4, 1897 – McKinley becomes the 25th president; and Hobart becomes the 24th vice president Wreckage of the USS Maine
See also
References
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States in the 19th century .
Library of Congress. Time Line of African American History, 1852–1880 H-SHGAPE discussion forum for people studying the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
