Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War This timeline of events leading up to the American Civil War describes and links to narrative articles and references about many of the events and issues which historians recognize as origins and causes of the Civil War. The pre-Civil War events can be roughly divided into a period encompassing the long-term build-up over many decades and a period encompassing the five-month build-up to war immediately after the election of Abraham Lincoln as President in the Election of 1860, which culminated in the Fall of Fort Sumter (April 1861). Since the early
Diplomacy of the American Civil War American challenge without depending on British armed forces. The U.S. looked the other way when Irish activists known as Fenians tried and failed badly in an invasion of Canada in 1871. The arbitration of the Alabama Claims in 1872 provided a satisfactory reconciliation; The British paid the United States $15.5 million for the economic damage caused by Confederate warships purchased from it. Congress did pay Russia for the Alaska Purchase in 1867, but otherwise rejected proposals for any major expansions, such as the proposal by President Ulysses Grant to acquire Santo Domingo. Diplomacy of the American Civil War The diplomacy