Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Abraham Lincoln begins his first full day as president by receiving an ominous message from Robert Anderson at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.
Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th U.S. president and prepares to face the sectional crisis head-on.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Outgoing President James Buchanan wraps up his term by creating the Dakota and Nevada territories, and approving increased import taxes. Buchanan then reflects upon his handling of the secession crisis.
President-elect Abraham Lincoln finalizes his cabinet choices and prepares for his inauguration. Meanwhile, Winfield Scott offers four options on how to deal with the southern secession amid concerns about possible violence in Washington.
The Senate takes up last-minute measures in hopes of finally reconciling North and South and restoring the Union.
Major Robert Anderson’s Federal garrison at Fort Sumter faces isolation while South Carolina officials seek its surrender. But the South Carolinians will need the new Confederate government to back them up.