Prelude To the Civil War The Civil War I The Civil War II The Civil War III Reconstruction

This 1854 act repealed the Missouri Compromise slavery line of 36º30' and gave the settlers the right to decide for themselves whether theirs would be a free or slave state.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

The concept, proposed by Stephen A. Douglas, by which the people of the Kansas and Nebraska territories would choose for themselves whether or not to be slave states is known as

Popular Sovereignty

This 1854 Supreme Court decision ruled that no African American— even if free—could ever be a U.S. citizen

Dred Scott decision

The leader of the raid on Harper’s Ferry arsenal, this abolitionist resorted to violence against proslavery settlers in Kansas.

John Brown

Elected president in 1860, he would hold office throughout the Civil War, only to die at the hands of an assassin in April, 1865.

Abraham Lincoln

This Latin term meaning “you have, or with the body,” is a legal rule and constitutional right that anyone imprisoned must be taken before a judge to determine if the prisoner is being legally held in custody. It was suspended by President Lincoln during the Civil War.

Habeas Corpus

Lincoln used his emergency powers to issue this decree that freed all slaves residing in territory in rebellion against the federal government.

Emancipation Proclamation

The President of the Confederate States of America, he had served as U.S. Secretary of War and Senator from Mississippi prior to the Civil War.

Jefferson Davis

By war’s end he was Commanding General of all Union armies, and would be elected President of the United States twice.

Ulysses S. Grant

He was appointed General-In-Chief of all Confederate armies, and despite inferior numbers, led the Army of Northern Virginia to many victories.

Robert E. Lee

After capturing Atlanta, his “March to the Sea” through Georgia ended with the fall of Savannah in December, 1864

William Tecumseh Sherman

He was instrumental in the Confederate victory at the First Battle of Bull Run where he received his nickname. He would die as the result of friendly fire at the Battle of Chancellorsville.

Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

This battle on Northern soil resulted in the single bloodiest day of the Civil War. The results of this battle encouraged President Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Battle of Antietam

Hoping to encourage either France or Britain to assist the Confederacy, General Lee invaded the Union (for the last time) and fought this 1863 battle in Pennsylvania that was the deadliest battle of the Civil War.

Battle of Gettysburg

This seven-week siege by Union General Ulysses S. Grant enabled the Union to achieve one of its major strategic goals: control of the Mississippi River.

Siege of Vicksburg

By winning this battle, General William Tecumseh Sherman destroyed a major Southern rail center and sealed President Lincoln’s reelection in 1864.

Battle for Atlanta

Speaking for only two minutes dedicating a Northern military cemetery in November, 1864, this address by President Lincoln is considered one of the greatest speeches in the English language.

Gettysburg Address

Given by President Lincoln in March of 1865, this speech used conciliatory language toward the South and contained the famous passage, “With malice toward none; with charity for all;...

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address

He was the most feared Confederate cavalry commander of the Civil War

Nathan Bedford Forrest

After this bloody battle in Tennessee in April of 1862, both sides realized that the Civil War was going to be a long and costly affair.

The Battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing

This Reconstruction plan began by President Lincoln and carried out by President Johnson, attempted to restore Southern states to the Union as quickly as possible.

Presidential Reconstruction

This Reconstruction plan passed by Congress forced Southern states, among other things, to pass three amendments protecting slaves as a criteria for readmission to the Union. It also divided the South into military districts.

Radical Republican Reconstruction

This amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States

13 th Amendment

This amendment to the Constitution defined U.S. citizenship as including all persons born in the United States, including African Americans

14 th Amendment

This amendment to the Constitution removed restrictions on voting based on race, color, or ever having been a slave.

15 th Amendment