Republican Abraham Lincoln elected President of the United States with a minority of the popular vote, and no votes south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

11 Southern States seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America

President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to “suppress the rebellion” and help restore the Union. The War Between the States ensued, usually known as “The Civil War.”

The Battle of First Bull Run ended in Union defeat. It was the first major clash between the opposing amateur armies.

Several major Confederate victories under General Robert E. Lee seemed to indicate the South might win the war, but at great cost in blood and treasure.

President Lincoln added the abolition of slavery as a goal of the Union war effort.

The Fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi to Union General Ulysses S. Grant and the Union victory at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania together set back the fortunes of the Confederacy.

Overpowering and relentless offensives against the thinning Confederate armies brought huge casualties to both sides, as the war hung in the balance, with the election of the President looming.

The Confederacy falls when General Robert E. Lee surrenders his army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia to General Ulysses Grant, and General Joseph Johnston surrenders his army to William T. Sherman in North Carolina.

President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by actor, John Wilkes Booth, and Vice-President, Tennesseean, Andrew Johnson, becomes President.

13^th Amendment to the Constitution added, officially freeing the slaves and prohibiting slavery.

The Republican Party moved to impeach President Johnson, but failed conviction by one vote

The Radical Republicans took over the “reconstruction” of the former Confederate States by creating military districts and running the political life at the point of the bayonet.

Secretary of State William H. Seward engineered the purchase of Alaska from Russia for about two cents per acre.

War hero Ulysses S. Grant was elected President of the United States; he served two terms and oversaw a scandal-plagued end, though he himself escaped censure.

14^th Amendment to the Constitution added, granting citizenship to former slaves.

The golden spike was driven, and the first transcontinental railroad is completed.