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  • South Carolina, U.S.
    1865
    Memorial day

    Origins

    South Carolina, U.S.
    1865

    According to the United States Library of Congress website, "Southern women decorated the graves of soldiers even before the Civil War’s end. Records show that by 1865, Mississippi, Virginia, and South Carolina all had precedents for Memorial Day." The earliest Southern Memorial Day celebrations were simple, somber occasions for veterans and their families to honor the dead and tend to local cemeteries. In the following years, the Ladies Memorial Association and other groups increasingly focused rituals on preserving Confederate Culture and the Lost Cause of the Confederacy narrative.




  • U.S.
    1865
    Memorial day

    The United States National Cemetery System

    U.S.
    1865

    In April 1865, following Lincoln's assassination, commemorations were widespread. The more than 600,000 soldiers of both sides who died in the Civil War meant that burial and memorialization took on new cultural significance. Under the leadership of women during the war, the increasingly formal practice of decorating graves had taken shape. In 1865, the federal government also began creating the United States National Cemetery System for the Union war dead.




  • Texas, U.S.
    1865
    Juneteenth

    250,000 enslaved people in Texas

    Texas, U.S.
    1865

    By 1865, there were an estimated 250,000 enslaved people in Texas.




  • U.S
    1865
    USA civil war

    Abolition slavery in the U.S

    U.S
    1865

    In the United States, abolitionism, the movement that sought to end slavery in the country, was active from the late colonial era until the American Civil War, the end of which brought about the abolition of American slavery through the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (ratified 1865).




  • Freedman's Hospital, Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865
    Sojourner Truth

    Truth rode in the streetcars to help force their desegregation

    Freedman's Hospital, Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865

    In 1865, while working at the Freedman's Hospital in Washington D.C., Truth rode in the streetcars to help force their desegregation.




  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    Saturday Mar 4, 1865
    Abraham Lincoln

    Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    Saturday Mar 4, 1865

    On March 4, 1865, Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address. In it, he deemed the war casualties to be God's will. Lincoln said: Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's 250 years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said 3,000 years ago, so still it must be said, "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether". With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.




  • Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.
    Saturday Apr 1, 1865
    Abraham Lincoln

    Grant nearly encircled Petersburg in a siege

    Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.
    Saturday Apr 1, 1865

    As Grant continued to weaken Lee's forces, efforts to discuss peace began. Confederate Vice President Stephens led a group meeting with Lincoln, Seward, and others at Hampton Roads. Lincoln refused to negotiate with the Confederacy as a coequal; his objective to end the fighting was not realized. On April 1, 1865, Grant nearly encircled Petersburg in a siege. The Confederate government evacuated Richmond and Lincoln visited the conquered capital. On April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, officially ending the war.


  • Appomattox, Virginia, U.S.
    Saturday Apr 8, 1865
    Abraham Lincoln

    Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox

    Appomattox, Virginia, U.S.
    Saturday Apr 8, 1865

    On April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, officially ending the war.


  • Appomattox, Virginia, U.S.
    Sunday Apr 9, 1865
    Juneteenth

    General Robert E. Lee surrendered

    Appomattox, Virginia, U.S.
    Sunday Apr 9, 1865

    Despite the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at the Old Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, the western Army of the Trans-Mississippi did not surrender until June 2.


  • U.S
    Friday Apr 14, 1865
    USA civil war

    President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth

    U.S
    Friday Apr 14, 1865

    On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer. Lincoln died early the next morning.


  • Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C., U.S.
    Friday Apr 14, 1865
    Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

    The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

    Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C., U.S.
    Friday Apr 14, 1865

    The assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, just days after the Army of Northern Virginia's surrender at Appomattox briefly lessened the tension over who would set the terms of peace. The radicals, while suspicious of the new president and his policies, believed, based upon his record, that Andrew Johnson would defer, or at least acquiesce to their hardline proposals.


  • Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois, U.S.
    Friday Apr 21, 1865
    Abraham Lincoln

    Funeral

    Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois, U.S.
    Friday Apr 21, 1865

    The late President lay in state, first in the East Room of the White House, and then in the Capitol Rotunda from April 19 through April 21. The caskets containing Lincoln's body and the body of his son Willie traveled for three weeks on the Lincoln Special funeral train. The train followed a circuitous route from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois, stopping at many cities for memorials attended by hundreds of thousands.


  • Virginia, U.S.
    Wednesday Apr 26, 1865
    Abraham Lincoln

    Booth died

    Virginia, U.S.
    Wednesday Apr 26, 1865

    Two weeks later, Booth was tracked to a farm in Virginia, and refusing to surrender, he was mortally shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett and died on April 26.


  • Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
    Wednesday Apr 26, 1865
    Memorial day

    Sue Landon Vaughan decorations

    Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
    Wednesday Apr 26, 1865

    On April 26, 1865, in Jackson, Mississippi, Sue Landon Vaughan supposedly decorated the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers. However, the earliest recorded reference to this event did not appear until many years after the fact and is considered a myth. Regardless, mention of the observance is inscribed on a southeast panel of the Confederate Monument in Jackson, erected in 1891.


  • Alabama and Mississippi, United States
    Thursday May 4, 1865
    USA civil war

    Confederate forces in Alabama and Mississippi surrendered

    Alabama and Mississippi, United States
    Thursday May 4, 1865

    On May 4, all remaining Confederate forces in Alabama and Mississippi surrendered. President Johnson officially declared an end to the insurrection on May 9, 1865; Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, was captured the following day.


  • U.S.
    1865
    Frederick Douglass

    The 13th Amendment outlawed slavery

    U.S.
    1865

    The post-war (1865) ratification of the 13th Amendment outlawed slavery. The 14th Amendment provided for citizenship and equal protection under the law. The 15th Amendment protected all citizens from being discriminated against in voting because of race.


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865
    Library of Congress

    The new Thomas Jefferson Building

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865

    In 1865 the Smithsonian building, also called the Castle due to its Norman architectural style, was devastated by fire and presented Henry an opportunity in regards to the Smithsonian's non-scientific library. Around this time, the Library of Congress was making plans to build and relocate to the new Thomas Jefferson Building, which would be fire proof.


  • U.S.
    Tuesday Jul 4, 1865
    Flag of the United States

    Star for Nevada

    U.S.
    Tuesday Jul 4, 1865

    The flag was changed to have 36 stars. (for Nevada)


  • U.S.
    Jul, 1865
    Bicycle

    Across The Atlantic

    U.S.
    Jul, 1865

    In July 1865, Lallement had left Paris, crossed the Atlantic, settled in Connecticut and patented the velocipede, and the number of associated inventions and patents soared in the US. The popularity of the machine grew on both sides of the Atlantic, and by 1868–69, the velocipede craze was strong in rural areas as well.


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865
    Library of Congress

    Ainsworth Rand Spofford became a Librarian of Congress

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865

    The Library of Congress reasserted itself during the latter half of the 19th century under Librarian Ainsworth Rand Spofford who directed it from 1865 to 1897. He built broad bipartisan support for it as a national library and a legislative resource, aided by an overall expansion of the federal government and a favorable political climate. He began comprehensively collecting Americana and American literature, led the construction of a new building to house the library, and transformed the librarian of Congress position into one of strength and independence.


  • U.S
    Monday Nov 6, 1865
    USA civil war

    Final Confederate Surrender

    U.S
    Monday Nov 6, 1865

    The final Confederate surrender was by the Shenandoah on November 6, 1865, bringing all hostilities of the four-year war to a close. Cherokee leader Stand Watie became the last Confederate general to surrender his forces.


  • U.S.
    Wednesday Dec 6, 1865
    Abraham Lincoln

    Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

    U.S.
    Wednesday Dec 6, 1865

    After implementing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln increased pressure on Congress to outlaw slavery throughout the nation with a constitutional amendment. He declared that such an amendment would "clinch the whole matter" and by December 1863 an amendment was brought to Congress. This first attempt fell short of the required two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives. Passage became part of the Republican/Unionist platform, and after a House debate the second attempt passed on January 31, 1865. With ratification, it became the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on December 6, 1865.


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    Wednesday Dec 6, 1865
    Juneteenth

    Thirteenth Amendment ratified

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    Wednesday Dec 6, 1865

    Although this event is popularly thought of as "the end of slavery", the Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to those enslaved in Union-held territory, who would not be freed until a proclamation several months later, on December 18, 1865, stating that the Thirteenth Amendment had been ratified on December 6, 1865.


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865
    Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

    Johnson was Appointed Military Governor

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865

    Then after several states left the Union, including his own, he chose to stay in Washington (rather than resign his U.S. Senate seat), and later, when Union troops occupied Tennessee, Johnson was appointed military governor. While in that position he had exercised his powers with vigor, frequently stating that "treason must be made odious and traitors punished".


  • South Carolina, U.S.
    1865
    Memorial day

    Origins

    South Carolina, U.S.
    1865

    According to the United States Library of Congress website, "Southern women decorated the graves of soldiers even before the Civil War’s end. Records show that by 1865, Mississippi, Virginia, and South Carolina all had precedents for Memorial Day." The earliest Southern Memorial Day celebrations were simple, somber occasions for veterans and their families to honor the dead and tend to local cemeteries. In the following years, the Ladies Memorial Association and other groups increasingly focused rituals on preserving Confederate Culture and the Lost Cause of the Confederacy narrative.


  • U.S.
    1865
    Memorial day

    The United States National Cemetery System

    U.S.
    1865

    In April 1865, following Lincoln's assassination, commemorations were widespread. The more than 600,000 soldiers of both sides who died in the Civil War meant that burial and memorialization took on new cultural significance. Under the leadership of women during the war, the increasingly formal practice of decorating graves had taken shape. In 1865, the federal government also began creating the United States National Cemetery System for the Union war dead.


  • Texas, U.S.
    1865
    Juneteenth

    250,000 enslaved people in Texas

    Texas, U.S.
    1865

    By 1865, there were an estimated 250,000 enslaved people in Texas.


  • U.S
    1865
    USA civil war

    Abolition slavery in the U.S

    U.S
    1865

    In the United States, abolitionism, the movement that sought to end slavery in the country, was active from the late colonial era until the American Civil War, the end of which brought about the abolition of American slavery through the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (ratified 1865).


  • Freedman's Hospital, Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865
    Sojourner Truth

    Truth rode in the streetcars to help force their desegregation

    Freedman's Hospital, Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865

    In 1865, while working at the Freedman's Hospital in Washington D.C., Truth rode in the streetcars to help force their desegregation.


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    Saturday Mar 4, 1865
    Abraham Lincoln

    Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    Saturday Mar 4, 1865

    On March 4, 1865, Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address. In it, he deemed the war casualties to be God's will. Lincoln said: Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's 250 years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said 3,000 years ago, so still it must be said, "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether". With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.


  • Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.
    Saturday Apr 1, 1865
    Abraham Lincoln

    Grant nearly encircled Petersburg in a siege

    Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.
    Saturday Apr 1, 1865

    As Grant continued to weaken Lee's forces, efforts to discuss peace began. Confederate Vice President Stephens led a group meeting with Lincoln, Seward, and others at Hampton Roads. Lincoln refused to negotiate with the Confederacy as a coequal; his objective to end the fighting was not realized. On April 1, 1865, Grant nearly encircled Petersburg in a siege. The Confederate government evacuated Richmond and Lincoln visited the conquered capital. On April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, officially ending the war.


  • Appomattox, Virginia, U.S.
    Saturday Apr 8, 1865
    Abraham Lincoln

    Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox

    Appomattox, Virginia, U.S.
    Saturday Apr 8, 1865

    On April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, officially ending the war.


  • Appomattox, Virginia, U.S.
    Sunday Apr 9, 1865
    Juneteenth

    General Robert E. Lee surrendered

    Appomattox, Virginia, U.S.
    Sunday Apr 9, 1865

    Despite the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at the Old Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, the western Army of the Trans-Mississippi did not surrender until June 2.


  • U.S
    Friday Apr 14, 1865
    USA civil war

    President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth

    U.S
    Friday Apr 14, 1865

    On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer. Lincoln died early the next morning.


  • Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C., U.S.
    Friday Apr 14, 1865
    Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

    The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

    Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C., U.S.
    Friday Apr 14, 1865

    The assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, just days after the Army of Northern Virginia's surrender at Appomattox briefly lessened the tension over who would set the terms of peace. The radicals, while suspicious of the new president and his policies, believed, based upon his record, that Andrew Johnson would defer, or at least acquiesce to their hardline proposals.


  • Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois, U.S.
    Friday Apr 21, 1865
    Abraham Lincoln

    Funeral

    Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois, U.S.
    Friday Apr 21, 1865

    The late President lay in state, first in the East Room of the White House, and then in the Capitol Rotunda from April 19 through April 21. The caskets containing Lincoln's body and the body of his son Willie traveled for three weeks on the Lincoln Special funeral train. The train followed a circuitous route from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois, stopping at many cities for memorials attended by hundreds of thousands.


  • Virginia, U.S.
    Wednesday Apr 26, 1865
    Abraham Lincoln

    Booth died

    Virginia, U.S.
    Wednesday Apr 26, 1865

    Two weeks later, Booth was tracked to a farm in Virginia, and refusing to surrender, he was mortally shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett and died on April 26.


  • Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
    Wednesday Apr 26, 1865
    Memorial day

    Sue Landon Vaughan decorations

    Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
    Wednesday Apr 26, 1865

    On April 26, 1865, in Jackson, Mississippi, Sue Landon Vaughan supposedly decorated the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers. However, the earliest recorded reference to this event did not appear until many years after the fact and is considered a myth. Regardless, mention of the observance is inscribed on a southeast panel of the Confederate Monument in Jackson, erected in 1891.


  • Alabama and Mississippi, United States
    Thursday May 4, 1865
    USA civil war

    Confederate forces in Alabama and Mississippi surrendered

    Alabama and Mississippi, United States
    Thursday May 4, 1865

    On May 4, all remaining Confederate forces in Alabama and Mississippi surrendered. President Johnson officially declared an end to the insurrection on May 9, 1865; Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, was captured the following day.


  • U.S.
    1865
    Frederick Douglass

    The 13th Amendment outlawed slavery

    U.S.
    1865

    The post-war (1865) ratification of the 13th Amendment outlawed slavery. The 14th Amendment provided for citizenship and equal protection under the law. The 15th Amendment protected all citizens from being discriminated against in voting because of race.


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865
    Library of Congress

    The new Thomas Jefferson Building

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865

    In 1865 the Smithsonian building, also called the Castle due to its Norman architectural style, was devastated by fire and presented Henry an opportunity in regards to the Smithsonian's non-scientific library. Around this time, the Library of Congress was making plans to build and relocate to the new Thomas Jefferson Building, which would be fire proof.


  • U.S.
    Tuesday Jul 4, 1865
    Flag of the United States

    Star for Nevada

    U.S.
    Tuesday Jul 4, 1865

    The flag was changed to have 36 stars. (for Nevada)


  • U.S.
    Jul, 1865
    Bicycle

    Across The Atlantic

    U.S.
    Jul, 1865

    In July 1865, Lallement had left Paris, crossed the Atlantic, settled in Connecticut and patented the velocipede, and the number of associated inventions and patents soared in the US. The popularity of the machine grew on both sides of the Atlantic, and by 1868–69, the velocipede craze was strong in rural areas as well.


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865
    Library of Congress

    Ainsworth Rand Spofford became a Librarian of Congress

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865

    The Library of Congress reasserted itself during the latter half of the 19th century under Librarian Ainsworth Rand Spofford who directed it from 1865 to 1897. He built broad bipartisan support for it as a national library and a legislative resource, aided by an overall expansion of the federal government and a favorable political climate. He began comprehensively collecting Americana and American literature, led the construction of a new building to house the library, and transformed the librarian of Congress position into one of strength and independence.


  • U.S
    Monday Nov 6, 1865
    USA civil war

    Final Confederate Surrender

    U.S
    Monday Nov 6, 1865

    The final Confederate surrender was by the Shenandoah on November 6, 1865, bringing all hostilities of the four-year war to a close. Cherokee leader Stand Watie became the last Confederate general to surrender his forces.


  • U.S.
    Wednesday Dec 6, 1865
    Abraham Lincoln

    Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

    U.S.
    Wednesday Dec 6, 1865

    After implementing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln increased pressure on Congress to outlaw slavery throughout the nation with a constitutional amendment. He declared that such an amendment would "clinch the whole matter" and by December 1863 an amendment was brought to Congress. This first attempt fell short of the required two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives. Passage became part of the Republican/Unionist platform, and after a House debate the second attempt passed on January 31, 1865. With ratification, it became the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on December 6, 1865.


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    Wednesday Dec 6, 1865
    Juneteenth

    Thirteenth Amendment ratified

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    Wednesday Dec 6, 1865

    Although this event is popularly thought of as "the end of slavery", the Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to those enslaved in Union-held territory, who would not be freed until a proclamation several months later, on December 18, 1865, stating that the Thirteenth Amendment had been ratified on December 6, 1865.


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865
    Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

    Johnson was Appointed Military Governor

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    1865

    Then after several states left the Union, including his own, he chose to stay in Washington (rather than resign his U.S. Senate seat), and later, when Union troops occupied Tennessee, Johnson was appointed military governor. While in that position he had exercised his powers with vigor, frequently stating that "treason must be made odious and traitors punished".


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