1850

• Harriet Tubman makes at least 19 clandestine trips to the South to help slaves escape to freedom.

• Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter examines the concept of sin through a novel about Puritans in colonial New England.

• Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine arrive in the U.S.

• Diphtheria is established as an endemic disease. It would become a particularly devastating killer of children.

• California becomes a state

1851

• Herman Melville infuses Moby Dick with Old Testament imagery. Later many would consider this book to be the greatest American novel

• Sojourner Truth delivers her “Ain’t I A Woman?” speech at a women’s rights conference in Akron, Ohio

• Gail Borden announces invention of evaporated milk• Congress authorizes smallest US silver coin (3 cent piece)• Yosemite Valley discovered in California• Dr John Gorrie patents a "refrigeration machine“• 1st US alcohol prohibition law enacted (Maine)• 1st baseball uniforms worn, NY Knickerbockers wear straw hat,

white shirt & blue long trousers• Jacob Fussell, Baltimore dairyman, sets up 1st ice-cream factory• Isaac Singer patents sewing machine• New York Times starts publishing (2 cents a copy)

1852

• Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin solidifies antislavery sentiment in the northern states.

• Elisha Otis invents a safety hoist for elevators, which makes taller building feasible.

1853• Railroads connect Chicago, Illinois to the East

Coast.• Asian immigrants in San Francisco, California

establish America’s first Buddhist temple• New York City establishes its first permanent

police force. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jQXjF9Y1HA

• Yellow fever claims more than 7000 lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.

• The U.S. acquires parts of New Mexico and Arizona through the Gadsden Purchase agreement with Mexico

1854 - 1859

• The first public library opens in Boston• The National Teachers Association is founded• A railroad is completed connecting New York City and St. Louis, Missouri,

and Memphis, Tennessee with Charleston, South Carolina

• George Pullman designs sleeping cars for the Chicago & Alton Railroad

• Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad http://safari.aasd.k12.wi.us/SAFARI/montage/play.php?keyindex=20379

• The first Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company chain store opens in New York

• Petroleum industry begins when oil is discovered in northwestern Pennsylvania

• The Republican Party is formed• Minnesota and Oregon become states• John Brown leads battles against proslavery settlers known as “Bleeding

Kansas” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l4BftXQhUk

1860

• The Lady Elgin excursion ship collides with a lumber ship on Lake Michigan, killing 300 people

• Harriet Tubman arrives in Auburn NY, on her last mission to free slaves, evading capture for 8 years on the Underground Railroad

• The Pony Express begins delivering mail from Missouri to California http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1R-GeEd95c 3:08

• South Carolina secedes from the U.S., the first secession leading to the establishment of the Confederate States of America

• Dixie Land http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLlEpdNO1eQ Shirley Temple 1:26

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=776oLm9GXxQ Shirley Temple 1:54

1860

• Shoe – making workers strike successfully for higher wages

• Organized baseball for the first time in San Francisco

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNCY1R-Lsqw 8:07

• Democratic Convention split over slavery• A Homestead Bill, providing federal land grants to

Western settlers, is vetoed by President Buchanan under pressure from the South. The veto divides Buchanan's Democratic party, clearing the way for Abraham Lincoln's election in a three-way race

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roNmeOOJCDY 14:16

• Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th president

1861

• President Lincoln declares slavery in Confederate states

unlawful . http://www.history.com/topics/abraham-lincoln/videos#abraham-lincoln 3:48

• The Life of Abraham Lincoln http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEireOPLSbw

• Lincoln’s Assassination http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRKtNJkqKF4

• Abraham Lincoln Mini Bio then Safari (on dashboard) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L80_q2tPveo

• 250 Federal troops are sent from New York to Ft Sumter• 1st hostile act of Civil War; Star of West fired on,

Sumter, SC• PBS Fort Sumter 2:42• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9p7V7GrHjE

• Fort Sumter and the Civil War 3:40• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv-pTU99RcY

• Mississippi becomes 2nd state to secede

• Battle Hymn of the Republic http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSvH4s-4sCQ

1861• Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona,

Virginia, Arkansas & Tennessee secede from the Union• Steam elevator patented by Elisha Otis• Kansas becomes 34th state• Tennessee votes against secession• Abraham Lincoln declared president• Confederate President Jefferson Davis inaugurated

at Montgomery Alabama• Confederate States adopt "Stars & Bars" flag• Confederate currency authorized-$50, $100, $500,

$1,000• 1st US nursing school chartered• Formal Union surrender of Ft Sumter• Robert E. Lee resigns from Union army• US president Lincoln outlaws business with confederate states

1861• Battle of Harper’s Ferry• Lincoln asks for 42,000 Army Volunteers & another

18,000 seamen• Richmond Va, is named the capital of the

Confederacy• Causes of the Civil War – Crash Course #20 12:01• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY9zHNOjGrs

• Baltimore riots-4 soldiers, 9 civilians killed 4:18• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvTEgXV--S0

• Battle of Bull Run, the 1st major battle of the Civil War, is fought

• Fort Sumter History - National Park Service Historian Rick Hatcher 6:18

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoj_fNAn9OE

• Civil War Reenactment 1:42• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8206fTwQZ9Q

1862• US Navy's 1st ironclad warship (Monitor) launched

Monitor vs Merrimack – video clip, • Civil War Ironclads (4:59)• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ABzaEHQ4Hg• The Monitor vs The Merrimac Battle (8:02) http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmnnqJm_4Pc (8:02)

• Battle of Shiloh History video • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3daKd7z9mcg part 1(9:54)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIrAfrYhs6U part 2• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6ktYEcfFqw part 3• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU3VtuYFuog part 4• 1st US income tax • Julia Howe publishes "Battle Hymn of Republic“• Confederate ironclad "Merrimack" launched• Battle of Fredericksburg 2:26• http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/videos#battle-of-freder

ickson

1862• 2nd Battle of Bull Run• August 1862 -- Pope's Campaign• Union General John Pope suffered defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run on

August 29-30. General Fitz-John Porter was held responsible for the defeat because he had failed to commit his troops to battle quickly enough; he was forced out of the army by 1863.

• Antietam 57:03• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tse4pbQp9cs• BatSeptember 1862 -- Antietam• On September 17, Confederate forces under General Lee were caught by General

McClellan near Sharpsburg, Maryland. This battle proved to be the bloodiest day of the war; 2,108 Union soldiers were killed and 9,549 wounded -- 2,700 Confederates were killed and 9,029 wounded.

• Antietam -- September-October 1862 (nos. 0126-0156)• John D Lynde patents aerosol dispenser• Union Grounds, Brooklyn, 1st baseball enclosure, opens• Homestead Act becomes law provides cheap land for settlement of West• Lewis Carroll creates Alice in Wonderland for Alice P Liddell

1862• US begins construction of Central Pacific Railroad• Congress authorizes Medal of Honor• US government collects its 1st income tax• Battle of Baton Rouge, LA• Lincoln receives 1st group of blacks to confer with US president• December 1862 -- The Battle of Fredericksburg• General McClellan's slow movements, combined with General Lee's escape, and

continued raiding by Confederate cavalry, dismayed many in the North. On November 7, Lincoln replaced McClellan with Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside. Burnside's forces were defeated in a series of attacks against entrenched Confederate forces at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Burnside was replaced with General Joseph Hooker.

• Federal tax levied on tobacco• Battle of Antietam, bloodiest day in Civil War (Sharpsburg Md), 23, 110 die• President Lincoln, says he will free slaves in all states• US Grant issues orders to bar Jews from serving under him• Bowling ball invented• Union ironclad ship "Monitor" sank off Cape Hatteras, NC

1863• January 1863 -- Emancipation Proclamation• May 1863 -- The Vicksburg Campaign• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYg3v9lUuNA Infantry Tactics in 4 minutes

• June-July 1863 -- The Gettysburg Campaign • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ALyq3seK2g Gettysburg in 4 minutes

• Nov 17th - Lincoln begins 1st draft of his Gettysburg Address http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUcW9ORBFWI (4 minutes)

• Lincoln delivers his address in Gettysburg; "4 score & 7 years..."

• November 1863 -- The Battle of Chattanooga

1863• Causes of Civil War in 4 minutes http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=44wJ1gnBK0c

• Confederate Leaders in 4 minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt2M8n_oV2I

• Union Leaders in 4 minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJA7PV3wAoE

• Battlefield Death in 4 minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt2M8n_oV2I

1863• Jan 4th - 4 wheeled roller skates patented by James Plimpton of NY• Jan 15th - 1st US newspaper printed on wood-pulp paper, Boston

Morning Journal• Feb 2nd - Samuel Clemens becomes Mark Twain for 1st time• Jul 7th - 1st military draft by US (exemptions cost $100)• Jul 13th - Anti-draft mobs lynch blacks in NYC; about 1,000 die• Jul 30th - Pres Lincoln issues "eye-for-eye" order to shoot a rebel

prisoner for every black prisoner shot• Aug 3rd - Saratoga Racetrack (NY) opens• Oct 3rd - Lincoln designates last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving

Day• Mar 25th - 1st Army Medal of Honor awarded• May 5th - Joe Coburn KOs Mike McCoole for US boxing title in 63rd

round• Feb 10th - 1st US fire extinguisher patent granted to Alanson Crane,

Virginia

1864

• May 1864 -- Grant's Wilderness Campaign• June 1864 -- The Battle of Cold Harbor• When Johnny Comes Marching Home• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecIVIFLo0uE• First Use Of Submarine In Warfare,• Mar 1st - Rebecca Lee (US) becomes 1st black

woman to receive a medical degree• Apr 22nd - US mints 2 cent coin (1st appearance of

"In God We Trust")

1864

• June 1864 -- The Siege of Petersburg• July 1864 -- Confederate Troops Approach

Washington, D.C.• August 1864 -- General William T. Sherman's Atlanta

Campaign• November 1864 -- General William T. Sherman's

March to the Sea• Nov 15th - 1st US mines school opens in basement of

Columbia University, NY• Dec 29th - Fire Dept celebrates 1st annual ball

1864• November 1864 -- Abraham Lincoln Is Re-Elected.• Sherman at the Sea -- December 1864 (nos. 0710-0716)• Hood before Nashville -- December 1864 (nos. 0570-0578)• Jul 29th - American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is

arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC

• Sep 30th - Black Soldiers given Medal of Honor• Oct 1st - John S Staples is paid $500 as a substitute for President

Lincoln• Oct 11th - Slavery abolished in Maryland• Nov 10th - Kingston, GA burned during Sherman's March to the

Sea

1865• January 1865 -- Fort Fisher, North Carolina • January 1865 -- The Fall of the Confederacy• February 1865 -- Sherman Marches through North and South

Carolina• February 1865 -- A Chance for Reconciliation Is Lost• Jan 16th - Drunken sailor attacks munitions at Ft Fisher NC, 40 die• Feb 8th - 1st black major in US army, Martin Robinson Delany• Feb 17th - Columbia SC burns down during Civil War• Apr 14th - US Secret Service created to fight counterfeiting• Nov 11th - Mary Edward Walker, 1st Army female surgeon,

awarded Medal of Honor

1865• April 1865 -- Fallen Richmond• Oct 9th - 1st US underground pipeline for carrying oil is laid in

PennsylvaniaOct 10th - John Hyatts patents billard ball

• The Defenses of Washington -- 1865 • April 1865 -- Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse• Stetson Hats• The Thirteenth Amendment Ratified• Ku Klux Klan Formed• Jul 21st - In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill

Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first true western showdown.

1865• April 1865 -- The Assassination of President Lincoln - shot by John

Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater• Apr 17th - Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in Lincoln's

assassination• April-May 1865 -- Final Surrenders among Remaining

Confederate Troops• August - November 1865• The Execution of Captain Henry Wirz -- November 1865• New York Stock Exchange• May 5th - 1st US train robbery (North Bend Ohio)• Jul 4th - 1st edition of "Alice in Wonderland" is published• Aug 12th - Joseph Lister performs 1st antiseptic surgery