Six or more artifacts (pictures, documents, etc.) to give adequate information about your topic
At least one primary source document to complement your topic
Colorful pictures to serve as other artifacts for the exhibit (can be cut from magazines, printed from computer, or drawn by hand)
An explanation of each artifact printed neatly in complete sentences (can be handwritten or typed on computer)
Topics: #1. October 16–18, 1859 - John Brown, in an attempt to amass arms for a slave insurrection, attacks the federal armory and arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
#2. December 2, 1859 - In Charles Town, Virginia, militant abolitionist John Brown is executed on charges of treason, murder, and insurrection.
#3. November 6, 1860 - Abraham Lincoln is elected President, with Hannibal Hamlin as his Vice President.
#4. Dec 20, 1860 - May 20, 1861 - Secession of southern States
#5. March 11, 1861 - Confederate Constitution Signed: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is signed in Montgomery, Alabama.
#6. April 12, 1861 - At 4:30 a.m. Confederates under Gen. Pierre Beauregard open fire with 50 cannons upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War begins. Fort Sumter after its capture, showing damage from the Rebel bombardment of over 3000 shells and now flying the Rebel "Stars and Bars" - April 14, 1861.
#7. July 21, 1861 - Confederate forces win a victory at the First Battle of Manassas. Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson earns the nickname “Stonewall” for his tenacity in the battle.
#9. February 6, 1862 - Victory for Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Tennessee, capturing Fort Henry, and ten days later Fort Donelson. Grant earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant.
#10. March 8/9, 1862 - The Confederate Ironclad 'Merrimac' sinks two wooden Union ships then battles the Union Ironclad 'Monitor' to a draw. Naval warfare is thus changed forever, making wooden ships obsolete.
#11. April 6–7, 1862 - Union General Ulysses S. Grant prevails at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, but not without enormous losses.
#12. May 31, 1862 The Battle of Seven Pines as Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s Army attacks McClellan's troops in front of Richmond and nearly defeats them. But Johnston is badly wounded.
#13. June 25-July 1 - The Seven Days Battles as Lee attacks McClellan near Richmond, resulting in very heavy losses for both armies. McClellan then begins a withdrawal back toward Washington.
#14. August 29/30, 1862 - 75,000 Federals under Gen. John Pope are defeated by 55,000 Confederates under Gen. Stonewall Jackson and Gen. James Longstreet at the second battle of Bull Run in northern Virginia. Once again the Union Army retreats to Washington. The president then relieves Pope.
#15. September 17, 1862 - The Battle of Antietam, Maryland, exacts heavy losses on both sides.
#16. January 1, 1863 - Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, which declares that slaves in the seceded states are now free.
#17. May 1-4, 1863 - The Union Army under Gen. Hooker is decisively defeated by Lee's much smaller forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia as a result of Lee's brilliant and daring tactics. Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson is mortally wounded by his own soldiers. Hooker retreats. Union losses are 17,000 killed, wounded and missing out of 130,000. The Confederates, 13, 000 out of 60,000.
#18. May 10, 1863 - Stonewall Jackson Dies. Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson dies from wounds sustained when he was mistakenly shot by his own troops at Chancellorsville.
#19. July 1–3, 1863 - The Battle of Gettysburg is fought in Pennsylvania. General George G. Meade compromises his victory by allowing Lee to retreat South across the Potomac.
#20. July 4, 1863 - After a long siege, Confederates surrender Vicksburg to Ulysses S. Grant, thus securing the Mississippi River for the Union.
#21. July 18, 1863 - 'Negro troops' of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment under Col. Robert G. Shaw assault fortified Rebels at Fort Wagner, South Carolina. Col. Shaw and half of the 600 men in the regiment are killed.
#22. September 19, 1863 - Battle of Chickamauga: Union General William Rosecrans is defeated by Confederate General Braxton Bragg at the Battle of Chickamauga, in Tennessee.
#23. November 19, 1863 - Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address, in which he reiterates the nation’s fundamental principle that all men are created equal.
#24. May 4, 1864 - Virginia Campaign: Beginning a drive aimed at ending the war, Ulysses S. Grant and 120,000 troops march south towards Richmond, the Confederate capital. Over the course of the next six weeks, a brutal war of attrition results in the deaths of nearly 50,000 Union soldiers.
#25. May 4, 1864 - May 5, 1864 - Battle of the Wilderness: During the horrific Battle of the Wilderness, thousands of men burn to death as the woods in which they were fighting catch fire.
#26. June 1, 1864 - June 3, 1864 - Battle of Cold Harbor: The bloody battle of Cold Harbor is a disaster for the Union. General Ulysses S. Grant makes a series of tactical mistakes that result in the deaths of 7,000 Union in twenty minutes.
#27. November 15, 1864 - Sherman’s March to the Sea: Union General Sherman begins his famous March to the Sea, cutting a swath of destruction 300 miles long and 60 miles wide through Georgia. "All war is hell," he comments.
#28. December 15, 1864 - The Confederate Army of the Tennessee is crushed by the Union Army of the Cumberland in Nashville. The war in the West is nearly over.
#29. January 31, 1865 - Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolishes slavery throughout the United States.
#30. March 4, 1865 - Second Lincoln Inaugural: Lincoln is sworn in for his second term as President of the United States.
#31. April 2, 1865 - Fall of Richmond: The Union Army captures Richmond, Virginia, which is nearly leveled by shelling and fire.
#32. April 9, 1865 - Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at Appomattox.
#33. April 14, 1865 - John Wilkes Booth shoots President Lincoln at Ford’s Theater; Secretary of State William H. Seward is stabbed and wounded in an assassination attempt inside his Washington home.
#34. May 26, 1865 - In New Orleans, terms of surrender are offered to General E. Kirby Smith, commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department. His acceptance on June 2 formally ends Confederate resistance.