The Civil War Curriculum, Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
Name: _________________
Date: _________________
The Civil War Curriculum | High School Civilwar.org/curriculum
Civil War Timeline (Teacher Version)
1787 Constitutional Compromise on slavery.
1820 Missouri Compromise prohibits slavery above 36030’ in Louisiana Territory, with the exception of Missouri.
1831 Nat Turner Slave Rebellion
1831 William Lloyd Garrison publishes The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper.
1845 Texas admitted to the Union
1846-1848 War between the United States and Mexico
1850 Compromise of 1850 includes California entering the Union as a free state. Tougher Fugitivie Slave Law is enacted.
1852 Publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe raises issue of slavery throughout the country.
1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act causes more sectional tension.
1856 Preston Brooks of South Carolina attacks Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the Senate with a cane, seriously injuring him, after Sumner’s “Crime Against Kansas” speech.
1857 Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision opens federal territories to slavery and outrages many in the North.
1859 John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry increases tensions.
1860 A series of fires in Texas during the summer spreads rumors of slave insurrection across the South.
Nov. 1860 Abraham Lincoln elected as the first Republican president
Dec. 20, 1860 The first state to secede from the Union is South Carolina.
The Civil War Curriculum, Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
The Civil War Curriculum | High School Civilwar.org/curriculum
1861
Jan. 9-Feb. 1 The following states secede: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas
Feb.-March Seven Southern states write a constitution for the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Alabama
March Lincoln’s first inaugural speech states the following: I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the South were it exists.
April 12-13 Confederate bombardment results in the surrender of Fort Sumter
April 15 Lincoln calls for volunteers to suppress the rebellion.
April 17-June 8 In response to Lincoln’s call for volunteers, the following four states of the Upper South secede: Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee
May 20 Confederate Congress votes to move the national government from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia.
July 21 Battle of First Manassas (Bull Run) results in a Confederate victory, which builds confidence in the South and convinces the North the war will be longer and harder than first thought.
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The Civil War Curriculum, Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
Name: _________________
Date: _________________
The Civil War Curriculum | High School Civilwar.org/curriculum
Technology Graphic Organizer
Directions: Use the available resources to find information about your assigned
technological development. List a minimum of three facts, then make a conclusion about how
the technology was used during the Civil War. You will share your information with other
centers at the end of the activity.
RailroadsFact 1:
Fact 2:
Fact 3:
Conclusion:
TelegraphFact 1:
Fact 2:
Fact 3:
Conclusion:
IroncladsFact 1:
Fact 2:
Fact 3:
Conclusion:
WeaponsFact 1:
Fact 2:
Fact 3:
Conclusion:
The Civil War Curriculum, Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
Name: _________________
Date: _________________
The Civil War Curriculum | High School Civilwar.org/curriculum
Technology in the Civil War
Rank what you believe will be the top two technological achievements that will most affect the
war’s outcome.
1. _____________________ Why?
____________________________________________________________
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2. _____________________
Why?
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