The outline that follows covers the American Civil War's major political and military events, but it is neither exhaustive--nor finished. We welcome your suggestions as to how to improve this page.
For those educators interested in providing their students a test in which this outline can be used to find answers, go to Civil War Quizzes page.
For those educators interested in our lesson plans on the study of Abraham Lincoln and his speeches/writings (NEW!), go to Lincoln Lesson Plans page.
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Go to Table of Contents for Great American History
I. Background and Causes of the War
A. Economic developments in the U.S.
Causes of the Civil War
Selected Quotations from 1850-1860
B. Slavery
Causes of the Civil War: A Balanced Answer
Cooper Union Address
The History Place: Abraham Lincoln
Abolition
C. States Rights vs. Strong Federal Government
Cornerstone Speech
States Rights: Frequently asked Questions
Origins of the Civil War Conflict
II. Political and Social Catalysts for the War
A. Missouri Compromise
Missouri Compromise Crosstab Map
States Rights: Frequently asked Questions
The Missouri Compromise
B. Kansas-Nebraska Act
The History Place: Kansas-Nebraska Act
Unit VI: Crossroads Resource-Bleeding Kansas
C. Dred Scott Decision
The History Place: Dred Scott
From Revolution to Reconstruction
Dred Scott vs. F. A. Sandford
D. John Brown’s Raid
Gerrit Smith: Harper’s Ferry and the Aftermath
John Brown and Sources
E. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe
F. Lincoln Douglas Debates
Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858
G. Presidential Election of 1860
Lincoln Wins the Republican Nomination in 1860
Vshadow: August 1860 Presidential Election
Vshadow: Lincoln’s Election
1860 Election Map: % of Popular Vote
III. Major Political and Military Leaders
1. Jefferson Davis
2. Alexander Stephens
3. Robert B. Rhett, Louis T. Wigfall, William L. Yancey, Robert Toombs
Jefferson Davis
Cabinet of the Confederacy
Speech of Alexander H. Stephens, Nov. 14, 1860
Alexander Stephens Biography
Causes of the Civil War: The Fire-Eaters
Robert Toombs
1. Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln Online
Abraham Lincoln: A Leader of Honor
Abraham Lincoln Research Site
Abraham Lincoln
The History Place Presents Abraham Lincoln (Timeline)
Encyclopedia Americana: Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln’s War Cabinet
Lincoln's Faith in God
Timeline of Lincoln's Life with links
A. Lincoln Bibliophile
2. William H. Seward
William H. Seward
3. Stephen A. Douglas, Charles Summer, Salmon P. Chase
Stephen A. Douglas Image
Vshadow: August 1860 Presidential Election
Stephen A. Douglas (1813-1861)
Celebrating Rights & Responsibilities: Charles Sumner
Salmon P. Chase
The Little Giant
1. Robert E. Lee
R. E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee Image
2. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson and James Longstreet
“Stonewall” Jackson
Stonewall Jackson Papers
James Longstreet
The Longstreet Chronicles
3. Albert Sidney Johnston and Joseph E. Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston
Joseph Johnston Biography
4. Various Others
U.S. Civil War Generals
Nathan Bedford Forrest
1. Ulysses S. Grant
U. S. Grant Home Page
Ulysses S. Grant ociation
New Book of Knowledge: Ulysses S. Grant
2. William Tecumseh Sherman and George B. McClellan
William Tecumseh Sherman
Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman
Gen. W. T. Sherman: Would the Georgia Campaigns of the first Commander of the Modern Era Comply With Current Law of War Standards?
George B. McClellan Image
McClellan
3. Phil Sheridan, George G. Meade, Joshua L. Chamberlain
Philip Henry Sheridan
Meade
George Gordon Meade
George Gordon Meade Archive
Joshua L. Chamberlain Area
Official Homepage of Joshua L. Chamberlain
4. George H. Thomas, William Rosecrans, Don Carlos Buell, Robert Anderson, and Various Others
George H. Thomas, William Rosecrans, Don Carlos Buell, Robert Anderson
U.S. Civil War Generals
IV. Events & Battles of 1861-1862
1. Secession of the Confederate States
The First Wave of Secession
Documents and Speeches Related to Georgia's Secession
2. Fort Sumter
Crisis at Fort Sumter
3. Mobilization of the North and South
The History Place: Abraham Lincoln (Proclamation for Volunteers)
4. European Intervention and the Trent Affair
The Trent Affair
John Slidell
1. First Manassas (Bull Run)
First Manassas
First Manassas
First Manassas Battle Summary
2. Forts Henry and Donelson
Fort Henry
Forts Henry and Donelson
Fort Donelson
Fort Donelson Official Records
Fort Donelson
3. Shiloh (Pittsburg’s Landing)
Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report: Shiloh
Battle of Shiloh
4. Shenandoah Valley
Kernstown
McDowell
Front Royal
Winchester I
Cross Keys
Port Republic
5. Seven Days
Battle Summaries by Campaign: Main Eastern Theatre
Seven Days Campaign
6. Second Manassas (Bull Run)
Second Battle of Bull Run
Second Manassas
Second Bull Run
7. Antietam (Sharpsburg)
Antietam
Antietam on the Web
8. Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg, 1862
The Battle of Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg I
9. Murphreesboro (Stone’s River)
Stone's River
Stone's River Official Report
Murfreesboro
1. Blockaders and Blockade Runners
Index of C.S.N. Ships
2. Ironclads
The Mariner's Museum--Monitor
Battle Between the Monitor & the Virginia
The CSS Virginia Home Page
1. USS Monitor vs. the CSS Virginia (Merrimack)
Battle Between the Monitor & the Virginia
Monitor and the Merrimack
Navies in the Civil War
2. New Orleans
New Orleans During the Civil War
New Orleans
3. Charleston Harbor
Charleston Civil War Naval & Maritime Operations
Official Hunley Project Page
4. Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay: First Strike for Grant’s Strategy
5. The CSS Alabama and the USS Kearsarge
CSS Alabama
6. The Blockade
The History Place: Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of Blockade
1. Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation
The Thirteenth Amendment
2. The Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address (text only)
The Gettysburg Address
1. Chancellorsville
Chancellorsville
Chancellorsville Official Records
2. Gettysburg
July, 1863 Battles Page
The Battle of Gettysburg
Gettysburg
3. Vicksburg
NPS Vicksburg Page
4. Chickamauga
Chickamagua- A Civil War Battle
Chickamagua-Battle Summary
5. Chattanooga
Chattanooga- Battle Summary
Chattanooga- Civil War
VII. Events & Battles of 1864-1865
1. Presidential Election of 1864
Lincoln Elected to a Second Term
1864 Election Map: % of Popular Vote
2. Copperhead Activities in the North
Clement L. Vallandigham
3. Surrender of Lee
The Last Year-1865: The End of the Confederacy
4. Assanination of Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln Assasination
Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site
1. Atlanta
Atlanta
The Atlanta Campaign
2. Wilderness
Battle of the Wilderness: Virtual Tour
Battle of the Wilderness
3. Spotsylvania Courthouse
Spotsylvania Court House
Spotsylvania Court House: Offical Records
Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
4. Cold Harbor
Cold Harbor
Battle of North Anna and Cold Harbor: Official Records
5. Sherman’s March
Sherman's March
General William T. Sherman's March of Destruction
Sherman's March
6. Franklin
Franklin
The Battle of Franklin
7. Petersburg
The Petersburg Campaign
Siege of Petersburg
8. Nashville
Nashville
Battle of Nashville
9. Appomattox Campaign
Appomatox Courthouse
NPS' Appomattox Court House Page
Appomatox Courthouse: Official Records
VIII. Civilians and Miscellaneous
A. Women During the Civil War
Southern Women
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Civil War Women- Internet Sources
Women and the Civil War- Resources at Duke
B. African-Americans in the Civil War
The Life of Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
Escaped s With Harriet Tubman
United States Colored Troops: The Civil War
Fifty-Fourth Massachussetts Infantry
Frederick Douglass
Underground Railroad
Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System
C. Native Americans in the Civil War
Native Americans
Kituwah: Cherokee Nationalism and the Civil War
D. Religious leaders and events in the Civil War
Religious Revival in Civil War Armies
Taking Christ to the Civil War Battlefields-Again
November 14: Civil War Christian Commission Organized
The Christian Commission
E. Hospitals & Medicine
Syndicated Column--Clara Barton
Civil War Medicine Vocabulary
F. Prisons
Civil War Prisons in Illinois
History of Johnson's Island Prison
Andersonville NPS Site
Andersonville: POW Camp
G. Photography and Matthew Brady
Matthew Brady
Selected Civil War Photographs
U. S. Civil War Center- Civil War Photographs
H. Railroads
Civil War Railroads
I. Newspapers and the Press
Horace Greely: New York Tribune Journalist of the Civil War Era
Civil War Newspapers
J. Weapons of War
North vs. South: A War of Technology
The Civil War Artillery Page
Cannons gif Image
The Enfield Rifle of the 28th Massachussetts
Small Arms of the Civil War
The CSS Hunley
Civil War Naval Ordnance
K. Civil War Food and Cooking
L. Civil War Music
M. Hispanic-Americans in the Civil War
A. The Struggle for Equality
B. Actions of the US Government
C. Ratification of 13th, 14th, 15th Amendment
Civil War Food
Ersatz Hardtack
Music of the War Between the States
Poetry and Music of the War Between the States
Sons of Confederate Veterans Hispanics in the Civil War Page
Life After the 13th Amendment
Andrew Johnson
The History Place- Abraham Lincoln: A Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
The Thirteenth Amendment
Web Author: Gordon Leidner
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