U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward unilaterally declines an offer by French Emperor Napoleon III to mediate the conflict between the U.S. and the Confederacy.

Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward unilaterally declines an offer by French Emperor Napoleon III to mediate the conflict between the U.S. and the Confederacy.
Horace Greeley publishes an editorial in his influential New York Tribune that prompts a rare public response from President Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law giving away 160-acre plots to settlers who agree to tend to the land for five years.
Abraham Lincoln reiterates that he will not accept any compromise with the South that might spread slavery into the territories.
Abraham Lincoln’s victory amplified southern calls for secession, but for now this would be James Buchanan’s problem.
The ocean vessel conveying Jefferson Davis and other captured members of his government arrived at Fortress Monroe, on the tip of Virginia’s York-James Peninsula.