istoryworld
Events relating to north america
Mail is carried by horse relay from Missouri to California, travelling 2000 miles in ten days in the service known as the Pony Express
Lincoln becomes the Republican presidential candidate, benefiting from a Democratic party split on the issue of slavery
German immigrants arriving in the USA now outnumber even the Irish
Republican contender Abraham Lincoln is elected US president with only 39% of the popular vote and no electoral votes in eleven southern states
South Carolina becomes the first southern state to secede from the Union in response to Lincoln's election
Seven southern states, meeting in Montgomery, Alabama, agree to form the Confederate States of America
The seven members of the newly formed Condederacy elect Jefferson Davis as their provisional president
Richmond, the state capital of Virginia, becomes the capital of the Southern Confederacy
Shots are fired against the Federal military garrison in Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbour, launching the American Civil War
Mathew Brady sends teams ot photographers to the various battle fronts to ensure a thorough photographic record of the American Civil War
The first battle of the American Civil War, fought near Manassas and the Bull Run Creek, is a clear Confederate victory
Longfellow's narrative poem Paul Revere's Ride dramatizes a turning point at the start of the American Revolution
Julia Ward Howe publishes The Battle Hymn of the Republic, inspired by a visit to Union troops in the American Civil War
The Monitor and the Merrimack fight all morning off the Virginia coast, in history's first clash between ironclad ships
A two-day engagement at Shiloh is the first Civil War battle to bring massive casualties, with more than 23,000 dead, wounded or missing
In a surprise raid, Union forces sail up the Mississippi estuary to capture New Orleans
George B. McClellan brings a Union army within a few miles of Richmond, but withdraws after the Seven Days Battle against Robert E. Lee
The Homestead Act grants 160 acres in the west of the USA to any family farming them for five years
Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee defeat a Union army in the second battle of Bull Run or Manassas
The Federal victory at Antietam comes at a cost of more than 22,000 casualties in a single day
Lincoln declares in his Emancipation Proclamation that all slaves in any state opposing the Union government 'are and henceforward shall be free'
Unpublished American poet Emily Dickinson writes more than 300 poems within the year
It is discovered in the US that wood pulp can be used to make paper, and the Boston Weekly Journal is the first to use the new substance
Samuel Clemens uses the pseudonym Mark Twain for the first time on an article in Virginia City's Territorial Enterprise
Mobs of women destroy shops in Richmond, Virginia, in protest at food prices inflated by the war
