Confiscation bill passed. Congress adjourns. President suspends all commerce with seceded States. President Lincoln orders Gen. Fremont to modify his emancipation proclamation. Secession members of Maryland Legislature sent to Fort McHenry. Gen. Scott resigns as Commander-in-Chief; Gen. McClellan succeeds him. C. S. Congress convened at Richmond, Va. Breckinridge expelled from U. S. Senate for treason. New York and Boston banks suspend specie payment.
1862.—Slavery prohibited in the Territories. Internal Revenue Bill passed. Polygamy forbidden in United Stales. Union Pacific Railroad chartered. Department of Agriculture organized. A draft of 300,000 men to serve for nine months, ordered by the Secretary of war; 600,000 volunteers called. Mason and Slidell delivered to the British Minister. E. M. Stanton appointed Secretary of war, vice Cameron, resigned. Cameron nominated Minister to Russia, vice Clay, resigned. Jesse D. Bright expelled from U. S. Senate. Jefferson Davis inaugurated President of the Southern Confederacy. Brigham Young elected Governor of Deseret, Utah. National Tax Bill passed U. S. House of Representatives. Gen. Halleck (July 11) appointed commander of all land forces. Martial law declared in Cincinnati. McClellan, Sept. 7, takes command in person of Potomac Army. Sept. 22, President Lincoln issues his Emancipation Proclamation. Habeas Corpus suspended by U. S. Government. Nov. 5, Gen. Burnside succeeds McClellan. All political prisoners released. Nov. 22, West Virginia admitted as a state.
1863.—Jan. 1.—Lincoln declares all the slaves free. Bureau of Currency and National Banks established. Death of “Stonewall” Jackson. First colored regiment from the north leaves Boston. A loan of $900,000,000 ten-forties authorized. Proclamation issued. Gen. Grant takes command of the West. Slavery abolished by Proclamation.
1864.—Fugitive Slave Law repealed. A draft of 500,000 men ordered, and 700,000 men called for, 85,000 men accepted from Governors of Western States. Lincoln re-elected President. Gen. Grant appointed to command U. S. Armies.
1865.—The 13th Amendment passed. Amnesty Proclamation issued. Blockade of Southern ports ended. $98,000,000 subscribed to the 7:30 loan during the week ending May 13. A day of fasting on account of the death of President Lincoln. All the nation in mourning. Lee surrenders to Grant. Johnson succeeds Lincoln.
1866.—Freedman’s Bureau Bill and Civil Rights Bill passed. 14th Amendment passed. Proclamation of Peace. Colorado bill vetoed. Suffrage given to colored men in District of Columbia.
1867.—Southern States organized into Military Districts. Military Government Bill and Tenure-of-Office Bill passed. Treaty with Russia for purchase of Alaska concluded, price $7,200,000. Nebraska admitted as a State. Reconstruction bill passed over President Johnson’s veto. Russian American Treaty approved by the Senate. Jeff Davis released on bail. Congress meets in extra session. Supplementary Reconstruction Bill passed, over veto.
1868.—Impeachment trial of President Johnson ends in acquittal. Fourteenth Amendment declared part of the Constitution. Proclamation of Political Amnesty issued. Grant, Republican, elected President. Congress meets. Senate bill passed for the reduction of the army. Bill passed to abolish tax on manufactures. The Chinese Embassy received by the President. Bill passed Senate for admission of S. States. Commencement of difficulties between U. S. Ambassador and the Government of Paraguay. The Senate ratifies the Chinese Treaty. Freedman’s Bureau Bill passed over Johnson’s veto. Laws of United States extended over Alaska. Failure of the Atlantic Cable of 1866. President Johnson issues a universal amnesty proclamation.
1869.—Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads completed.—1,913 miles in length. United States Supreme Court decides Internal Revenue laws constitutional. The Copper Tariff Bill passed over the veto. Passage of the Reconstruction Bill. Indiana Supreme Court decide National Bank currency taxable. Female Suffrage Bill passed by Wyoming Legislature. E. M. Stanton confirmed as Judge of United States Supreme Court.
1870.—Fifteenth Amendment passed. Recall of the Russian Minister, Catacazy, requested. Proclamation against Fenian raids into Canada issued. Ninth census, population 38,555,883. Bill passed for the readmission of Virginia. Legal Tender Act declared unconstitutional. The Saint Thomas treaty expires by limitation. The North Pacific R. R. Bill becomes a law. Bill to abolish Franking privilege defeated. The San Domingo Treaty rejected by the Senate. The new Constitution of Illinois adopted.