At approximately 10:20 p.m. on April 14, 1865, Confederate sympathizer and prominent actor John Wilkes Booth shoots President Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head at point-blank range while Lincoln watches a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Lincoln dies the following morning at a …
John Wilkes BoothAbraham LincolnLewis PowellGeorge AtzerodtDavid Herold+3 moreassassinationconspiracyconfederate-sympathizersterrorismpolitical-violence
The 1864 presidential election takes place near the war’s end with incumbent President Abraham Lincoln of the National Union Party facing Democratic nominee former General George B. McClellan. The Democratic Party is deeply divided between Copperheads (Peace Democrats) who favor immediate …
Abraham LincolnGeorge B. McClellanClement VallandighamDemocratic PartyCopperheads+1 moreelection-manipulationcopperheadsconfederate-conspiracyracist-propagandademocratic-party+1 more
President Lincoln signs the False Claims Act into law on March 2, 1863, creating a revolutionary mechanism to combat rampant war profiteering after unscrupulous contractors sell the Union Army defective equipment including sawdust-filled crates instead of muskets, diseased mules, substandard …
Abraham LincolnU.S. CongressWar profiteersfalse-claims-actwar-profiteeringwhistleblower-protectionaccountabilityqui-tam
Throughout the Civil War, the Treasury Department’s cotton permit system—requiring federal authorization to purchase cotton in Confederate states—becomes a cesspool of corruption, particularly in the Mississippi Valley. Francis Preston Blair charges that Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase …
Treasury DepartmentCharles DanaAbraham LincolnSalmon P. ChaseFrancis Preston Blair+1 morecotton-tradetreasury-corruptionwar-profiteeringtrading-with-enemypermits
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, taking effect January 1, 1863, declares enslaved people in Confederate-held territory to be free, transforming the Civil War from a conflict to preserve the Union into a crusade against slavery. The proclamation faces immediate and violent opposition from …
Abraham LincolnNorthern DemocratsCopperheadsFrederick DouglassGeorge McClellanemancipationracismcopperheadsresistancewhite-supremacy+1 more
President Abraham Lincoln signs the Pacific Railway Act, authorizing extensive land grants in the Western United States and the issuance of 30-year government bonds to the Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad companies to construct a transcontinental railroad. While the act becomes …
Abraham LincolnU.S. CongressUnion Pacific RailroadCentral Pacific RailroadThomas C. Durant+1 morerailroad-corruptionland-grantsspeculationcredit-mobilierinstitutional-corruption
After Union naval forces under David G. Farragut capture New Orleans in spring 1862, General Benjamin F. Butler is appointed military governor of the occupied city, beginning one of the most controversial and corrupt episodes of the Civil War. Butler’s brief tenure becomes notorious for …
Benjamin F. ButlerAndrew ButlerDavid G. FarragutAbraham Lincolnmilitary-corruptionwar-profiteeringcotton-tradenew-orleansaccountability-failure
Congress passes the Legal Tender Act on February 25, 1862, authorizing the issuance of $150 million in United States Notes (popularly called “greenbacks” for their distinctive color) to finance the Union war effort after spiraling costs rapidly deplete gold and silver reserves. The …
U.S. CongressAbraham LincolnEdmund Dick TaylorWall Streetcurrencyfiat-moneyfinancial-manipulationspeculationinflation+1 more
Simon Cameron submits his resignation as Secretary of War on January 11, 1862 (remaining until January 20), amid investigations into War Department procurement irregularities and cabinet disagreements over emancipation policy and patronage distribution. Lincoln appointed Cameron, a Pennsylvania …
Simon CameronAbraham LincolnEdwin M. StantonAlexander CummingsU.S. House of Representativeswar-profiteeringcorruptiongovernment-contractspatronageaccountability-failure
At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries open fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, launching more than 4,000 rounds over 34 hours at the Union garrison commanded by Major Robert Anderson. The fort, which Anderson’s forces had occupied since December 26, 1860, …
Confederate States of AmericaJefferson DavisRobert AndersonAbraham LincolnJames Buchananfort-sumtercivil-warconfederacymilitary-conflictwar-profiteering
The first of seven Lincoln-Douglas debates took place on August 21, 1858, in Ottawa, Illinois, as Republican challenger Abraham Lincoln faced Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas in a contest focused almost entirely on slavery’s expansion into the territories. The debates exposed fundamental …
Abraham LincolnStephen A. DouglasRepublican PartyDemocratic Partyslave-powerdemocratic-erosioninstitutional-capturepolitical-debatesystematic-corruption
President James K. Polk obtains a declaration of war against Mexico after deliberately provoking hostilities by sending American troops into disputed territory between the Nueces River (Mexico’s claimed boundary) and the Rio Grande (Texas’s claimed boundary) in January 1846. When Mexican …
James K. PolkU.S. CongressMexicoWhig Party oppositionAbraham Lincolnmexican-american-warslavery-expansionland-grabmanifest-destinyinstitutional-corruption+1 more
President James K. Polk presented Congress with a war message on May 11, 1846, claiming that Mexico “has at last invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil” after Mexican forces killed or wounded 16 U.S. soldiers in disputed territory between the …
James K. PolkZachary TaylorU.S. CongressAbraham LincolnWhig Partyinstitutional-capturepolitical-deceptionexecutive-overreachterritorial-expansionslave-power
Presbyterian minister and abolitionist newspaper editor Elijah Parish Lovejoy is murdered by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois, struck by five bullets while defending his printing press from destruction. The murder of Lovejoy—whose fourth printing press had been hidden in a warehouse owned by …