Involved: Union Army led by Brigadier General Irvin McDowell & the Confederate Army led by Generals P.G.T Beauregard and Joseph E. Johnston

Location: Manassas, Virginia

Summary: The first major battle of the Civil War. The Union forces pushed back the confederates, but reinforced by Generals Beauregard and Johnson helped secure a Confederate victory.

Involved: Union Army led by General Geroge McClellan & the Confederate Army led by General Robert E. Lee

Location: Sharpsburg, Maryland

Summary: Considered the bloodiest single day battle with around a staggering 22,717 casualties, the battle ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first invasion into the North and helped lead way into the Emancipation Proclamation

Involved: Union Army (54th Massachusetts infantry Regiment), Confederate Army

Location: Morris Island, South Carolina

Summary: The Union, which was led by the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, an African American unit, launched an assault on Fort Wagner, which was defended by the Confederates The Union forces failed to capture the fort and suffered heavy casualties. However, their actions proved the capability of Black soldiers.

Involved: President Abraham Lincoln

Location: White House, Washington D.C.

Summary:The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." This ultimately brung the end of slavery within The US and discouraged the support of the Confederacy

Involved:Union Army led by General Geroge McClellan & the Confederate Army led by General Robert E. Lee

Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Summary: Three day battle that worked to stop Confederate’s invasion of the North, ended in Union victory after the casualties of 46,000 to 51,000 which was the most within the entirety of the war, this battle is often regarded as the turning point of the war

Involved: General Robert E. Lee (Confederate Army) General Ulysses S. Grant (Union Army)

Location: Appomattox Court House, Virginia

Summary: Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant, which effectively ended the Civil War. Grant offered nice terms to the confederate soldiers, allowing them to return home with their horses and promising they would not be prosecuted for treason.

Involved: John Wilkes Booth (assassin), President Abraham Lincoln

Location: Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C

Summary: While he was attending a play at Ford’s Theatre, President Abraham was shot in the head by John WIlkes, a confederate sympathizer. His assassination was part of a larger conspiracy to destabilize the Union government.

Involved: United States Congress, President Lincoln, State Legislatures

Location: United States

Summary: The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, making it illegal in the United States.

Involved: United States Government, President Andrew Johnson, Freedmen (Formerly enslaved people)

Location: Southern United States

Summary: This was a period that followed the CIvil War in which the United States government attempted to rebuild the South and integrate formerly enslaved people into society. Policies such as the Freedmen's Bureau were established to provide assistance, but resistance from white southerners led to a rise of discriminatory laws like the Black Codes.

Involved: President Abraham Lincoln

Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Summary: A short speech given by Lincoln at the dedication of the Gettysburg cemetery focused on the Union’s commitment of democracy and equality, speech is often considered one of the greatest political speeches in American history

Involved: Major General Ulysses S. Grant, Confederacy: Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton

Location: Vicksburg, Mississippi

Summary: General Ulysses S. Grant led Union forces in a siege against the Confederate fort of Vicksburg. After over six weeks of constant bombardment, the Confederate forces under Pemberton surrendered on July 4, 1863. The victory gave the Union full control of the Mississippi war.

Involved: Union: General William Tecumseh SHerman Confederate Joseph E. Johnston and confederate militias

Location: Georgia

Summary: The march was a military campaign led by General William Tecumseh Sherman during the final years of the Civil War. The army moved from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia using the strategy of “total war”, destroying railroads and buildings. The goal of the march was to break the Confederacy’s will to fight by targeting infrastructure and civilian property. On December 21, 1864, Sherman captured Savannah, offering it as a “Christmas gift” to President Abraham Lincoln.