Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
Congress has just one last compromise proposal to consider, as more and more people are becoming convinced that disunion is inevitable.
South Carolinians and the Federal garrison in Charleston Harbor settle into an uneasy truce; for how long, nobody knows.
Alabama troops seize key Federal installations in the state before the convention to consider secession even gets under way.
The Florida State Convention considers secession at Tallahassee while Federal troops struggle to maintain a foothold in Pensacola Harbor.
Delegates to the Mississippi State Convention vote 84 to 15 in favor of seceding from the Union.
The merchant vessel Star of the West arrives at Charleston Harbor to relieve the Federal garrison at Fort Sumter. But the South Carolinians have other ideas.