Abraham Lincoln
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Timeline
February 12, 1809:
·Abraham Lincoln born in Hardin County, Kentucky, near
Hodgenville
December 1816:
·Family relocates to frontier of Indiana
October 5, 1818:
·Mother Nancy Hanks Lincoln dies of milk sickness
December 5, 1819:
·Father Thomas Lincoln remarries widow Sarah Bush
Johnston
January 1820:
·Missouri Compromise sets boundary line between free
and slave territory
January 20, 1828:
·Lincoln's elder sister Sarah Lincoln dies during
childbirth
April 1828:
·Lincoln works on cargo flatboat bound for New Orleans
March 1830:
·Family relocates to Illinois, settling along Sangamon
River
March 1831:
·Lincoln makes second flatboat trip to New Orleans
July 1831:
·Separates from his family, moving to New Salem, Illinois
April-June 1832:
·Serves as captain of volunteer company in Black Hawk
War
August 6, 1832:
·Loses bid for Illinois State Legislature
May 1833:
·Becomes postmaster of New Salem
October 1833:
·Takes up work as surveyor
August 4, 1834:
·Elected to Illinois State Legislature at age 24
January 1835:
·Lincoln's village store fails when his partner dies
August 25, 1835:
·Ann Rutledge dies
August 1, 1836:
·Lincoln re-elected to Illinois state legislature
March 1, 1837:
·Admitted to the bar in Illinois; begins practicing
law
March 15, 1837:
·Relocates to Springfield after state capital is moved
there
April 12, 1837:
·Forms law partnership with John T. Stuart
August 6, 1838:
·Re-elected to Illinois State Legislature for a third
term
August 3, 1840:
·Re-elected to Illinois State Legislature for a fourth
term
Autumn 1840:
·Becomes engaged to Mary Todd
January 1, 1841:
·Breaks off engagement with Mary Todd
May 14, 1841:
·Forms law partnership with Stephen T. Logan
Spring 1842:
·Decides not to seek fifth term in Illinois state legislature
September 1842:
·Challenged to duel by James Shields; later called
off
November 4, 1842:
·Married to Mary Todd in an Episcopalian Service in
Springfield
May 1, 1843:
·Lincoln fails to obtain Whig nomination for U.S. Congress
August 1, 1843:
·Eldest son Robert Todd born
January 7, 1844:
·Lincoln buys frame house in Springfield
September 20, 1844:
·Forms law partnership with William Herndon
March 10, 1846:
·Second son Edward Baker born
August 3, 1846:
·Elected to U.S. Congress as Whig Representative from
Illinois
October 25, 1847:
·Lincoln family leaves Springfield for Washington
December 6, 1847:
·Lincoln present at convocation of Thirtieth Congress
January 22, 1848:
·On House floor, makes criticisms of President Polk
and Mexican War
January 10, 1849:
·Introduces gradual emancipation bill for slaves in
District of Columbia
March 31, 1849:
·Completes term in Washington and returns to Springfield
to practice law
June 21, 1849:
·Fails to secure position as commissioner of General
Land Office
Summer 1849:
·Refuses offer to become governor of Oregon Territory
February 1, 1850:
·Son Edward Lincoln dies after prolonged illness
Autumn 1850:
·Omnibus Compromise of 1850 signed into law
December 21, 1850:
·Third son William Wallace born
January 17, 1851:
·Father Thomas Lincoln dies.
July 16, 1852:
·Delivers eulogy of Henry Clay in Springfield
April 4, 1853:
· Fourth son Thomas "Tad" born
May 24, 1854:
· Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes law, nullifying Missouri
Compromise
October 15, 1854:
·Lincoln makes speech in Peoria in opposition to popular
sovereignty
November 7, 1854:
·Elected to Illinois state legislature, declines seat
to run for U.S. Senate
February 8, 1855:
·Lincoln loses Senate bid
June 17, 1856:
·Lincoln attends first Republican national convention
in Philadelphia; receives considerable support for vice-presidential nomination
March 6, 1857:
·Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger P. Taney reads Dred
Scott decision
June 26, 1857:
·Speaks out against Dred Scott decision
in Springfield
June 16, 1858:
·Receives Republican nomination for U.S. Senate; delivers famous
"house divided" speech
Autumn 1858:
·Participates in a series of debates with incumbent
Senator Stephen Douglas
November 2, 1858:
·Loses Senate bid once again
October 16, 1859:
·John Brown leads raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia
February 27, 1860:
·Lincoln delivers speech at Cooper Institute, New York
City
April 23, 1860:
·Democratic convention in Charleston, South Carolina
fractures
May 18, 1860:
· Receives nomination for president at Republican convention
in Chicago
June 1860:
·Northern Democrats nominate Stephen Douglas for president; Southern
Democrats nominate John Breckenridge for President; Constitutional
Union Party nominates John Bell for President
November 6, 1860:
·Lincoln elected 16th President of the United States
December 20, 1860:
·South Carolina becomes first state to secede from
the Union
February 9, 1861:
·Confederate States of America formed in Montgomery,
Alabama
February 11, 1861:
·Lincoln makes farewell address at Springfield, embarks
for Washington
March 4, 1861:
·Lincoln inaugurated in Washington, delivers First
Inaugural Address
March 29, 1861:
·Orders reinforcements sent to Fort Sumter
April 12, 1861:
·Confederate forces open fire on Fort Sumter, beginning
Civil War
April 15, 1861:
·Lincoln calls for a temporary militia of 75,000 soldiers
April 17, 1861:
·Virginia secedes from the Union
April 18, 1861:
·Lincoln invites Robert E. Lee to head Union armies;
Lee declines and resigns post
April 19, 1861:
·Lincoln proclaims blockade against Southern ports
April 27, 1861:
·Suspends writ of habeas corpus
May 10, 1861:
·Declares martial law in Maryland
June 3, 1861:
·Stephen Douglas dies in Chicago
July 21, 1861:
·Union forces routed at First Manassas (Bull Run)
July 22, 1861:
·Congress grants Lincoln considerable war powers
August 1861:
·Declares martial law in Missouri
November 1, 1861:
·George McClellan promoted to general-in-chief of Union
forces
November 8, 1861:
·
Trent Affair strains relations with
Britain
December 26, 1861:
·Releases Confederate ministers detained during Trent
Affair
February 20, 1862:
·Son William Wallace Lincoln dies
March 9, 1862:
·Ironclad warships Monitor and Virginia battle
to a draw
March 11, 1862:
·Lincoln takes supreme command of Union forces; McClellan begins
Peninsular Campaign on Richmond
April 6-7, 1862:
·Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee results in heavy losses
for both sides
April 16, 1862:
·Lincoln signs act abolishing slavery in District of
Columbia
April 24, 1862:
·David Farragut leads Union navy's seizure of New Orleans
May 20, 1862:
·Homestead Act signed into law
June 19, 1862:
·Slavery prohibited in United States territories
June 25-July 1 1862:
·Seven Days' Battles in Virginia end in defeat and
retreat for Union
July 1, 1862:
·Pacific Railroad Act signed into law; Lincoln calls
for 300,000 volunteers
July 2, 1862:
·Morrill Land Grant Act signed into law
July 11, 1862:
·Lincoln appoints Henry Halleck as general-in-chief
of Union forces
August 19, 1862:
·Reply to Horace Greeley editorial regarding war aims
August 29-30, 1862:
·Union forces routed at Second Manassas (Bull Run)
September 17, 1862:
·Union forces turn back the Confederate attack at the
Battle of Antietam
September 22, 1862:
·Lincoln issues a preliminary version of the Emancipation
Proclamation
October 3, 1862:
·Lincoln visits Union forces at Antietam
November 5, 1862:
·Lincoln promotes Ambrose Burnside to direct Union
forces in the east
December 13, 1862:
·Union forces routed at Battle of Fredericksburg
January 1, 1863:
·Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect
January 2, 1863:
·Fighting at the Battle of Mumfreesboro ends inconclusively
January 25, 1863:
·Lincoln names Joseph Hooker to command Union forces
in the east
January 29, 1863:
·Lincoln names U.S. Grant to command Union forces in
the west
February 25, 1863:
·Lincoln signs National Bank Act into law
March 3, 1863:
·Lincoln signs Conscription Act into law amidst heavy
protests
May 1-4, 1863:
·Union forces routed at Chancellorsville
May 19, 1863:
·Copperhead Clement L. Vallandigham arrested and banished
from Union
June 20, 1863:
·West Virginia admitted to Union as 35th state
June 28, 1863:
·Lincoln names George Meade to command Union forces
in the east
July 1-3, 1863:
·Union forces victorious at Battle of Gettysburg
July 4, 1863:
·Union forces seize Vicksburg, gain control of Mississippi
River
July 12-15, 1863:
·Draft riots occur in New York City
September 19-20, 1863:
·Union forces routed at Chickamauga
November 19, 1863:
·Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address at dedication
of national cemetery
November 25, 1863:
·Union forces seize Chattanooga
December 8, 1863:
·Lincoln issues initial plans for reconstruction
March 9, 1864:
·Grant assumes command of all Union forces; William
Tecumseh Sherman takes control in western theater
June 8, 1864:
·Lincoln nominated for President by National Union
Party
June 15, 1864:
·Grant digs in for nine-month siege of Petersburg
July 18, 1864:
·Lincoln calls for 500,000 more volunteers
August 29, 1864:
·Democrats nominate McClellan for president on peace
platform
September 2, 1864:
·Sherman's forces break Confederate defenses and march
on Atlanta
October 19, 1864:
·Union forces gain control of Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
November 8, 1864:
·Lincoln re-elected president
November 15, 1864:
·Sherman burns Atlanta, begins march to the sea
February 3, 1865:
·Lincoln attends unsuccessful peace conference in Hampton
Roads, Virginia
March 4, 1865:
·Lincoln delivers Second Inaugural Address
March 11, 1865:
·Issues presidential pardon for Union deserters
April 2, 1865:
·Grant's forces break Confederate defensive and march
on Richmond
April 4, 1865:
·Lincoln visits destruction at Richmond
April 9, 1865:
·Lee surrenders to Grant near Appomattox Court House, Virginia
April 11, 1865:
·Lincoln makes last public speech, concerning question
of reconstruction
April 14, 1865:
·Lincoln fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending
play at Ford's Theater, Washington, D.C.
April 15, 1865:
·Lincoln dies at 7:22 a.m. from complications caused
by gunshot wound
May 4, 1865:
·Lincoln interred at Oak Ridge Cemetery, near Springfield, Illinois
