Most of the items here can be found in E.B. Long's Civil War Day by Day (Doubleday, 1971), a standard and very valuable reference work.
Copyright 1996 James F. Epperson
| January 11, 1860: | Alabama Democratic Party adopts the Alabama Platform. |
| February 27, 1860: | Abraham Lincoln addresses gathering at the Cooper Union in New York City. |
| March 6, 1860: | Lincoln gives speech in New Haven, Connecticut. |
| April 23, 1860: | Democratic Convention opens in Charleston, SC. |
| May 3, 1860: | Democratic Convention adjourns after Deep South delegations withdraw over the slavery plank in the platform. |
| May 9, 1860: | Constitutional Union Party nominates John Bell of Tennessee for the Presidency. |
| May 18, 1860: | Republican Party nominates Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency. |
| June 18, 1860: | Democrats reconvene in Baltimore, MD. |
| June 22, 1860: | Deep South delegates again withdraw from the Democratic Convention. |
| June 23, 1860: | "Regular" Democrats nominate Stephen A. Douglas; the "Southern" wing of the party nominates John C. Breckinridge. |
| November 6, 1860: | Lincoln defeats Douglas, Breckinridge, and Bell for the Presidency. |
| November 14, 1860: | Alexander Stephens addresses the Georiga legislature on secession. |
| November 30, 1860: | Mississippi legislature passes resolutions in favor of secession. |
| December 18, 1860: | Crittenden Compromise introduced in Congress. |
| December 20, 1860: | South Carolina convention passes ordinance of seccession. |
| December 26, 1860: | Major Anderson moves Federal garrison in Charleston, SC, from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter. |
| January 3, 1861: | Georgia seizes Fort Pulaski. |
| January 4, 1861: | Alabama seizes U.S. arsenal at Mount Vernon. |
| January 5, 1861: | Alabama seizes Forts Morgan and Gaines. |
| January 6, 1861: | Florida seizes Apalachicola arsenal. |
| January 7, 1861: | Florida seizes Fort Marion. |
| January 8, 1861: | Floridians try to seize Fort Barrancas but are chased off. |
| January 9, 1861: | Mississippi
secedes. Star of the West fired on in Charleston Harbor |
| January 10, 1861: | Florida
secedes. Louisiana seizes U.S. arsenal at Baton Rouge, as well as Forts Jackson and St. Philip. |
| January 11, 1861: | Alabama
secedes. Louisiana seizes U.S. Marine Hospital. |
| January 14, 1861: | Louisiana seizes Fort Pike. |
| January 19, 1861: | Georgia secedes. |
| January 26, 1861: | Louisiana secedes. |
| January 28, 1861: | Tennessee Resolutions in favor of Crittenden Compromise offered in Congress. |
| February 1, 1861: | Texas secedes. |
| February 8, 1861: | Provisional
Constitution of the Confederacy adopted in Montgomery,
AL. Arkansas seizes U.S. Arsenal at Little Rock. |
| February 12, 1861: | Arkansas seizes U.S. ordnance stores at Napoleon. |
| February 18, 1861: | Jefferson Davis inaugurated as President of the Confederacy. |
| March 4, 1861: | Abraham Lincoln inaugurated as 16th President of the United States. |
| March 21, 1861: | "Cornerstone speech" delivered by Alexander Stephens. |
| April 12, 1861: | Fort Sumter fired upon by Confederates. |