Most of the items here can be found in E.B. Long's Civil War Day by Day (Doubleday, 1971), a standard and very valuable reference work. Copyright 1996 James F. Epperson |
January 11, 1860: | Alabama Democratic Party adopts the Alabama Platform. |
February 27, 1860: | Abraham Lincoln addresses gathering at the Cooper Union in New York City. |
March 6, 1860: | Lincoln gives speech in New Haven, Connecticut. |
April 23, 1860: | Democratic Convention opens in Charleston, SC. |
May 3, 1860: | Democratic Convention adjourns after Deep South delegations withdraw over the slavery plank in the platform. |
May 9, 1860: | Constitutional Union Party nominates John Bell of Tennessee for the Presidency. |
May 18, 1860: | Republican Party nominates Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency. |
June 18, 1860: | Democrats reconvene in Baltimore, MD. |
June 22, 1860: | Deep South delegates again withdraw from the Democratic Convention. |
June 23, 1860: | "Regular" Democrats nominate Stephen A. Douglas; the "Southern" wing of the party nominates John C. Breckinridge. |
November 6, 1860: | Lincoln defeats Douglas, Breckinridge, and Bell for the Presidency. |
November 14, 1860: | Alexander Stephens addresses the Georiga legislature on secession. |
November 30, 1860: | Mississippi legislature passes resolutions in favor of secession. |
December 18, 1860: | Crittenden Compromise introduced in Congress. |
December 20, 1860: | South Carolina convention passes ordinance of seccession. |
December 24, 1860: | Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis introduces a "compromise" proposal which would effectively make slavery a national instituion. |
December 26, 1860: | Major Anderson moves Federal garrison in Charleston, SC, from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter. |
January 3, 1861: | Georgia seizes Fort Pulaski. |
January 4, 1861: | Alabama seizes U.S. arsenal at Mount Vernon. |
January 5, 1861: | Alabama seizes Forts Morgan and Gaines. |
January 6, 1861: | Florida seizes Apalachicola arsenal. |
January 7, 1861: | Florida seizes Fort Marion. |
January 8, 1861: | Floridians try to seize Fort Barrancas but are chased off. |
January 9, 1861: | Mississippi secedes.
Star of the West fired on in Charleston Harbor |
January 10, 1861: | Florida secedes.
Louisiana seizes U.S. arsenal at Baton Rouge, as well as Forts Jackson and St. Philip. |
January 11, 1861: | Alabama secedes.
Louisiana seizes U.S. Marine Hospital. |
January 14, 1861: | Louisiana seizes Fort Pike. |
January 19, 1861: | Georgia secedes. |
January 26, 1861: | Louisiana secedes. |
January 28, 1861: | Tennessee Resolutions in favor of Crittenden Compromise offered in Congress. |
February 1, 1861: | Texas secedes. |
February 8, 1861: | Provisional Constitution of the
Confederacy adopted in Montgomery, AL.
Arkansas seizes U.S. Arsenal at Little Rock. |
February 12, 1861: | Arkansas seizes U.S. ordnance stores at Napoleon. |
February 18, 1861: | Jefferson Davis inaugurated as President of the Confederacy. |
March 4, 1861: | Abraham Lincoln inaugurated as 16th President of the United States. |
March 21, 1861: | "Cornerstone speech" delivered by Alexander Stephens. |
April 12, 1861: | Fort Sumter fired upon by Confederates. |
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Date of last revision: May 21, 2023