William C. Nell is appointed a post office clerk in Boston, Massachusetts, becoming the first African American to be named to a Federal civilian post.

Mississippi elects to leave the Union, setting off a rapid chain of other states electing to join the Confederacy.

Only weeks after South Carolina elects to strike out away from the Union, Florida votes to secede as well.

In the interests of protecting slavery, Alabama secedes from the Union only a day after Florida.

Louisiana joins South Carolina and a number of other states in seceding from the Union.

Texas, following the lead of several other states, joins the Confederacy to protect slavery within the state.

Georgia elects to secede from the Union, following the lead of South Carolina and several other states.

The United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution promising non-interference with slavery in any state.

The Confederate States of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas ratify a constitution. Later, the remaining states to secede will also adopt this document.

William Neil became the first Black appointed to a federal position as a postal clerk on this date in Boston, Massachusetts.

Only weeks before the beginning of the Civil War, free blacks in Charleston, South Carolina stage ride-ins over being denied access to street cars. On May 1, 1861, the Charleston City Railway Company adopts a resolution allowing all persons equal access to street cars.

The Civil War begins when Confederate Troops attack Fort Sumpter, South Carolina. The war will last four years, and when it is over, slavery as an institution in the United States will be abolished.

Less than a month after the beginning of the Civil War with the attack on Fort Sumpter, Arkansas joins the Confederacy.

Little more than a month after troops from South Carolina attack Fort Sumpter, North Carolina joins the Confederacy.

Virginia votes to join the Confederate States on this date.

Tennessee secedes from the Union two months after the start of the Civil War.

The Senate and the House of Representatives pass the Confiscation Act, which declares that slaves owned by anyone who fights for the Confederacy who happen to come under Union control are set free.

Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, the first school for freemen, opened on this date in Fortress Monroe, Virginia. The school became Hampton University in 1868.

U.S. Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, authorized runaway slaves to enlist in the Union Navy on this date.

Jefferson Davis is elected the first and only President of the Confederate States. His political career found him constantly urging for state's rights, and he wanted to expand slavery throughout the South all the way to the Pacific Ocean. At the end of the Civil War, he will be charged with treason and imprisoned. He is later released, neither innocent nor guilty, and will not regain citizenship in the United States until 1978.

Kentucky passes a resolution to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy, however they do not leave the Union.

Missouri is admitted to the Confederate States of America, despite the fact that it had not formally seceded from the Union.

After years of ignoring bills to put an end to slavery and passing laws that stated that the U.S. Congress could not interfere with state's rights in the matter, bills are floored that would put an end to slavery in the House of Representatives and Congress.