Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was born in a small cabin on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky, on February 12, 1809.

President Franklin Pierce signed the Kansas–Nebraska Act into law on May 30, 1854, creating the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.

Kansas Territory was established on May 30, 1854, as an organized incorporated territory existing until 1861.

Nebraska Territory was created by the Kansas–Nebraska Act, existing from May 30, 1854, until 1867.

Lincoln delivered the House Divided speech at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield after accepting the Republican Senate nomination on June 16, 1858.

Douglas won the second-highest popular vote but only Missouri, securing electoral votes in both free and slave states.

The United States presidential election was held on November 6, 1860, with four major candidates competing.

A section of the Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts, suddenly collapsed on January 10, 1860, trapping several hundred workers underneath the rubble.

An estimated 88 to 145 workers were killed instantly, and 166 were removed critically injured from the rubble.

Abraham Lincoln visited Lawrence and the Pemberton Mill site on March 2, 1860.

The South Carolina secession convention unanimously voted to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860.

The convention issued a proclamation on December 24, 1860, explaining the reasons for secession.

Lincoln was sworn in as the 16th president on March 4, 1861, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Union forces under Colonel Edward Baker were defeated by Confederate troops on October 21, 1861, in Loudoun County, Virginia.

President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in April 1861.

South Carolina militia bombarded Fort Sumter on April 12–13, 1861, leading to its surrender and the start of the Civil War.

Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington, D.C., on February 23, 1861, following alleged assassination plots in Baltimore during his pre-inauguration tour.

Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union on January 9, 1861.

Florida seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861, in Tallahassee.

Alabama seceded from the Union on January 11, 1861, in Montgomery.

Georgia seceded from the Union on January 19, 1861, in Milledgeville.

Louisiana seceded from the Union on January 26, 1861, in Baton Rouge.

While seven Deep South states seceded, secession efforts failed in the other eight slave states by February 1861.

Texas seceded from the Union on February 1, 1861, in Austin.

The Provisional Confederate Congress met in Montgomery on February 4, and the CSA was formed on February 8, 1861.

Judah P. Benjamin was appointed Confederate Secretary of War in late 1861, while continuing to act as Attorney General until November 15, 1861.

George B. McClellan became general-in-chief of all Union armies on November 1, 1861, following Winfield Scott's retirement.

Presidential elections were held in the Confederate States on November 6, 1861, resulting in Jefferson Davis's election.

David Hunter replaced John C. Frémont in the Western Department; the department itself was discontinued on November 9, 1861.

The Confederate Congress admitted Missouri as the 12th Confederate state on November 28, 1861.

Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10, 1861, recognizing its provisional government.

President Lincoln signed Public Resolution 82 on December 21, 1861, creating a Navy Medal of Honor.

Western counties established a separate government under Francis Pierpont in 1861, setting the stage for statehood.

President Lincoln approved an enabling act in December 1862 requiring gradual abolition of slavery.

Arthur I. Boreman was elected as the first governor of West Virginia in 1863.

West Virginia was admitted as the 35th U.S. state on June 20, 1863.

Creighton's crew began erecting poles in July 1861, planting 27,500 poles by October 1861.

Western Union completed the first transcontinental telegraph on October 24, 1861, connecting eastern networks to California via Salt Lake City.

First messages sent to President Lincoln; initial charges were $1 per word, exceeding the 30-cent statutory limit.

Lincoln delivered his longest State of the Union Address to the 37th Congress on December 1, 1862, during the Civil War.

Lincoln coined the phrase 'last best hope of Earth' in the closing paragraphs of the address.

President Lincoln approved an enabling act admitting West Virginia to the Union on December 31, 1862, contingent on slavery abolition provisions.

The constitutional convention reconvened in February 1863 to insert the required slavery abolition provision, meeting Lincoln's condition.

President Lincoln issued a proclamation admitting West Virginia as a state on June 20, 1863, following the constitutional revisions.

Grant issued General Order No. 11 on December 17, 1862, expelling Jews as a class from his military district to curb corruption and illicit trade.

The order was fully implemented in Paducah, Kentucky, where thirty Jewish families were forcibly expelled from the city.

Confederate troops led by Major General Earl Van Dorn raided Holly Springs, preventing the potential expulsion of more Jews.

President Lincoln responded by countermanding the order on January 4, 1863, after receiving a delegation from expelled Jewish merchants.

Greeley's letter to Lincoln, urging enforcement of the Confiscation Acts, was reprinted in the Tribune on August 20, 1862.

Lincoln quickly became disappointed with Halleck's command, regarding him as little more than a first rate clerk, and later said Halleck shrank from responsibility after Pope's defeat.

Following the Peninsula Campaign, Lincoln summoned Halleck to Washington, D.C., to become General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States on July 23, 1862.

Confederate forces defeated Union General John Pope's Army of Virginia in August 1862, damaging Union morale.

The concluding battle of the Northern Virginia Campaign occurred on September 1, 1862, in Fairfax County.

Union forces engaged Confederate troops near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17, 1862, providing Lincoln a military victory.

Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, citing his authority as Commander-in-Chief.

Confederate cavalry raided Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in October 1862, following the Maryland campaign.

Lincoln hosted a delegation of African Americans at the White House, lecturing them on racial tensions.

Lincoln established the independent Department of Agriculture as a bureau headed by a commissioner without Cabinet status.

Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which opened millions of acres for settlement, following the departure of Southern representatives.

African Americans gathered on New Year's Eve 1862 to anticipate the proclamation's fulfillment.

Lincoln issued the Final Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring slaves in rebel states free.

The Revenue Act of 1862 created the office of commissioner of internal revenue to fund the Civil War via income tax.

Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act on July 1, 1862, authorizing land grants and bonds for the transcontinental railroad construction.

Lincoln signed the Morrill Act on July 2, 1862, establishing land-grant colleges for agricultural and mechanical sciences.

The National Bank Act, originally the National Currency Act, passed the Senate on February 25, 1863, after Lincoln urged Congress to act.

President Lincoln signed the Arizona Organic Act on February 24, 1863, officially creating the territory from the western half of New Mexico.

The first capital of Arizona Territory was established in 1864 at Prescott, in the northern Union-controlled area.

College-level courses were offered for the first time during the 1863–64 academic year, preceding the formal charter.

President Abraham Lincoln signed an enabling act on April 8, 1864, authorizing the Columbia Institution to confer college degrees.

The U.S. Congress officially organized Idaho Territory on March 3, 1863, through an Act signed by President Abraham Lincoln.

Congress failed to provide codes upon inception, so the territory's original laws were adopted on January 4, 1864.

Lincoln departed Washington, D.C., on November 18, 1863, accompanied by cabinet members, foreign officials, and his secretaries.

Lincoln delivered the address on the afternoon of November 19, 1863, during the formal dedication of Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Lincoln provided manuscript copies of the address to Edward Everett and George Bancroft in 1864.

The motto 'In God We Trust' first appeared on the two-cent piece, which went into mass circulation in 1864.

The Coinage Act of 1864 was signed on April 22, authorizing bronze cents and two-cent pieces to address wartime coin shortages.

Lincoln secured the National Union Party nomination in Baltimore, overcoming intra-party opposition from Chase and Radical Republicans.

Presidential elections were held on November 8, 1864, near the end of the Civil War.

Conspirators circulated a fake proclamation calling for a 400,000-man draft, hoping to trigger a financial panic and profit from gold price increases.

Lincoln and his cabinet suspected a leak, leading to arrests of journalists and telegraph operators, who were later released.

While imprisoned, the conspirators saw Lincoln release a genuine proclamation for 500,000 volunteers on July 18, 1864.

Confederate forces under Forrest attacked Fort Pillow on April 12, 1864, resulting in the death of many Union troops after resistance ceased.

The massacre at Fort Pillow was investigated by the United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War.

Lincoln promoted Grant to lieutenant general on March 2, 1864, granting him command of all Union armies.

Grant arrived in Washington on March 8 and was formally commissioned by Lincoln the next day at a Cabinet meeting.

Congress passed the Organic Act, and President Lincoln signed it into law on May 26, 1864, creating Montana Territory from parts of Idaho, Washington, and Dakota territories.

The 1864 enabling act mandated specific constitutional conditions for Nevada's admission, including the prohibition of slavery and the cession of public land claims to the federal government.

Nevada was admitted to the Union on October 31, 1864, a date chosen to support the political goals of the federal government during the Civil War.

Lincoln was sworn in for his second term on March 4, 1865, at the U.S. Capitol, marking the start of his final term.

Lincoln delivered a brief address reflecting on the war and the Union, noting less need for an extended speech than before.

Andrew Johnson's vice-presidential oath and speech were widely criticized as a disaster and a mortifying fiasco.

John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865, during a performance.

Boston Corbett fatally shot John Wilkes Booth at Garrett Farm in Virginia on April 26, 1865.

Union and Confederate leaders met aboard the River Queen in Hampton Roads to discuss peace terms, including slavery and independence.

According to Campbell, Lincoln indicated willingness to pardon most Confederates except Davis; he later drafted an amnesty agreement that faced Cabinet opposition.

The House passed the amendment on January 31, 1865, after legislative maneuvering and an earlier unsuccessful vote.

The amendment was ratified by 27 of 36 states on December 6, 1865; Secretary of State Seward certified its validity on December 18, 1865, with the amendment ending slavery in Kentucky and Delaware that December.

Two Chicago criminals attempted to steal Lincoln's body from the tomb in Springfield for ransom in 1876.