the U.S. Senate.
1860
February 27: Lincoln gives a speech at Cooper Institute, New York City.
May 18: Is nominated for president by the Republican National Convention in Chicago.
November 6: Is elected the sixteenth president of the United States.
December 20: South Carolina secedes from the Union; six other southern states soon follow.
1861
February 4: Seceded states meet in Montgomery, form the Confederate States of America, and elect Jefferson Davis president.
March 2: U.S. Congress adopts the proposed Thirteenth Amendment forbidding future national action against slavery.
March 4: Lincoln gives his first inaugural address.
April 12: The attack on Fort Sumter begins the Civil War.
April 15: Lincoln calls for troops to put down the rebellion; four more states secede by May.
May 24: General Benjamin F. Butler declares that fugitive slaves at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, are “contraband of war” and will not be returned to their owners.
August 6: Lincoln signs the first Confiscation Act, which nullifies owners’ claims to slaves employed by the Confederate army.
September 11: Lincoln orders General John C. Frémont to modify the order in which he had declared slaves of Confederates in Missouri free.
November: Proposes his plan to Delaware for gradual, compensated emancipation.
December 3: Gives his annual message to Congress, recommending a program of compensated emancipation and colonization of freed slaves outside the United States.
1862
March 6: Sends a message to Congress calling for aid to states that adopt plans of gradual, compensated emancipation.
March 13: Signs an additional article of war passed by Congress, forbidding the army from returning fugitive slaves.
April 16: Signs a bill for immediate abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, with compensation to loyal owners and funds for colonization.
May 19: Nullifies the order of Major General David Hunter freeing slaves in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
May 20: Signs the Homestead Act.
May–June: Peninsular campaign of General George B. McClellan fails.
June 19: Lincoln signs the bill for immediate, uncompensated abolition in the territories.
July 12: Meets with members of Congress from the border states to promote a plan for gradual, compensated emancipation with colonization.
July 13: Mentions his plan for general emancipation to cabinet members Gideon Welles and William H. Seward.
July 17: Signs the Second Confiscation Act freeing slaves owned by disloyal persons who come within Union lines and providing funds for colonization.
Signs the Militia Act authorizing enrollment of blacks in the war effort.
July 22: Presents to the cabinet an order for general emancipation in the Confederacy; issuance is postponed at the urging of Secretary of State Seward and others.
August 14: Meets at the White House with a black delegation and urges them to support the idea of colonization.
August 22: Releases his letter responding to Horace Greeley’s “Prayer of Twenty Millions.”
August 25: The War Department authorizes recruitment of black soldiers in the Sea Islands.
September 22: Five days after the battle of Antietam, Lincoln issues the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, warning that slaves in areas still in rebellion on January 1 will be freed, promising aid to states that adopt plans for gradual, compensated emancipation, and again referring to colonization.
November 29: Attorney General Edward Bates rules that free black persons born in the United States are American citizens.
December 1: Lincoln’s annual message to Congress reiterates his support for gradual, compensated emancipation with colonization.
December 31: Lincoln signs the bill admitting West Virginia to the Union.
Signs a contract with Bernard Kock for the transportation of freed slaves to Île à Vache, Haiti.
1863
January 1: Issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the
1860
February 27: Lincoln gives a speech at Cooper Institute, New York City.
May 18: Is nominated for president by the Republican National Convention in Chicago.
November 6: Is elected the sixteenth president of the United States.
December 20: South Carolina secedes from the Union; six other southern states soon follow.
1861
February 4: Seceded states meet in Montgomery, form the Confederate States of America, and elect Jefferson Davis president.
March 2: U.S. Congress adopts the proposed Thirteenth Amendment forbidding future national action against slavery.
March 4: Lincoln gives his first inaugural address.
April 12: The attack on Fort Sumter begins the Civil War.
April 15: Lincoln calls for troops to put down the rebellion; four more states secede by May.
May 24: General Benjamin F. Butler declares that fugitive slaves at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, are “contraband of war” and will not be returned to their owners.
August 6: Lincoln signs the first Confiscation Act, which nullifies owners’ claims to slaves employed by the Confederate army.
September 11: Lincoln orders General John C. Frémont to modify the order in which he had declared slaves of Confederates in Missouri free.
November: Proposes his plan to Delaware for gradual, compensated emancipation.
December 3: Gives his annual message to Congress, recommending a program of compensated emancipation and colonization of freed slaves outside the United States.
1862
March 6: Sends a message to Congress calling for aid to states that adopt plans of gradual, compensated emancipation.
March 13: Signs an additional article of war passed by Congress, forbidding the army from returning fugitive slaves.
April 16: Signs a bill for immediate abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, with compensation to loyal owners and funds for colonization.
May 19: Nullifies the order of Major General David Hunter freeing slaves in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
May 20: Signs the Homestead Act.
May–June: Peninsular campaign of General George B. McClellan fails.
June 19: Lincoln signs the bill for immediate, uncompensated abolition in the territories.
July 12: Meets with members of Congress from the border states to promote a plan for gradual, compensated emancipation with colonization.
July 13: Mentions his plan for general emancipation to cabinet members Gideon Welles and William H. Seward.
July 17: Signs the Second Confiscation Act freeing slaves owned by disloyal persons who come within Union lines and providing funds for colonization.
Signs the Militia Act authorizing enrollment of blacks in the war effort.
July 22: Presents to the cabinet an order for general emancipation in the Confederacy; issuance is postponed at the urging of Secretary of State Seward and others.
August 14: Meets at the White House with a black delegation and urges them to support the idea of colonization.
August 22: Releases his letter responding to Horace Greeley’s “Prayer of Twenty Millions.”
August 25: The War Department authorizes recruitment of black soldiers in the Sea Islands.
September 22: Five days after the battle of Antietam, Lincoln issues the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, warning that slaves in areas still in rebellion on January 1 will be freed, promising aid to states that adopt plans for gradual, compensated emancipation, and again referring to colonization.
November 29: Attorney General Edward Bates rules that free black persons born in the United States are American citizens.
December 1: Lincoln’s annual message to Congress reiterates his support for gradual, compensated emancipation with colonization.
December 31: Lincoln signs the bill admitting West Virginia to the Union.
Signs a contract with Bernard Kock for the transportation of freed slaves to Île à Vache, Haiti.
1863
January 1: Issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the
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