Confederate States of America Formed:
From January 9 through February 1, 1861, six Southern slave states—Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas—joined South Carolina in seceding from the Union.  Meeting on February 4, 1861, a convention in Montgomery, Alabama, established the Confederate States of America, adopted a constitution (February 8), and elected (February 9) and inaugurated (February 18) Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as president. 

Corwin Amendment:
Congressman Charles Francis Adams of Massachusetts introduced a version of a constitutional amendment first drafted by Secretary of State-designate William Henry Seward that would have prohibited future amendments from interfering with slavery where it already existed (i.e., in the South).  Congressman Thomas Corwin of Ohio headed the committee that reported the measure to the full House and the proposed amendment thereafter bore his name.  The House passed the proposed Corwin Amendment on February 28 by a vote of 133-65 and the Senate approved it on March 2, 24-12.  In an unusual move, President James Buchanan signed the measure on March 3, his last day in office (the Constitution does not require presidential approval for proposed amendments). It was ratified by Ohio on May 13, 1861 and by Maryland on January 10, 1862, falling far short of the necessary three-quarters majority.  The Corwin Amendment was the originally proposed Thirteenth Amendment and would have protected slavery had it been ratified. 

Presidential Inauguration:
Republican Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the sixteenth president of the United States on March 4, 1861.

Contrabands:
On May 24, Union General Benjamin Butler refused to comply with the Fugitive Slave Law, which required the return of escaped slaves to their masters.  Instead, he labeled runaway slaves arriving at Fort Monroe in southeast Virginia to be “contraband of war” (i.e., seized property) if their masters refused to pledge loyalty to the Union.  The contrabands became laborers for the Union military. 

First Confiscation Act:
On August 6, Congress enacted the First Confiscation Act, which forbid runaway or captured slaves who had been used in the Confederate war effort from being returned to their masters. 

Fremont’s Emancipation Order:
On August 30, Union General John C. Fremont declared free all slaves in the Border State of Missouri whose owners who did not swear loyalty to the Union.  President Lincoln requested that Fremont modify the order to comply with federal law.  When Fremont refused, Lincoln rescinded the emancipation order on September 11.

Annual Presidential Message to Congress:
On December 3, President Lincoln suggested that Congress set aside money for states voluntarily freeing their slaves and allocate funds to colonize to Liberia, Haiti, or other foreign lands those ex-slaves, contrabands, and possibly free blacks, as well. 

District of Columbia Emancipation Act:
On April 6, the Senate passed (29-14) a bill abolishing slavery in the nation’s capital of Washington, D.C.  The House approved the measure (93-39) on April 11, and President Lincoln signed it into law on April 16.  It emancipated over 3000 slaves, compensated owners, and set aside funds for voluntary colonization abroad.  It was the only time the federal government compensated former slaveowners for the loss of their slaves.

Hunter’s Emancipation Order:
On May 9, Union General David Hunter issued an order freeing all the slaves in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.  On May 19, President Lincoln nullified Hunter’s order, reserving the “war power” of emancipation for himself as commander-in-chief.  Lincoln also encouraged slave states to accept the congressional offer of compensation in return for enacting state laws for gradual emancipation.

Territorial Emancipation Act:
On June 19, Congress banned slavery in the federal territories (current or future), without compensation to former slaveowners.

Second Confiscation Act:
Passed by Congress on July 17, the law included a section freeing all slaves coming under Union military jurisdiction who were owned by rebel masters.  The act also authorized the president to use “persons of African descent” in any capacity in the war effort. 

Militia Act:
Also passed by Congress on July 17, the law specifically authorized the president to recruit and use “persons of African descent” as laborers, soldiers, or sailors in the Union military. 

Cabinet Discussion on Emancipation:
On July 22, President Lincoln informed his cabinet that he planned to issue an emancipation proclamation.  Since the Union was suffering through a series of military defeats, Secretary of State William Henry Seward convinced Lincoln to wait until after a major Union victory to announce the policy publicly.  In that way, it would be based on military strength rather than political desperation in a time of military weakness.  Lincoln agreed, and announced the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation after the Union victory at Antietam in mid-September.

Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation:
On September 22, following the Union victory at Antietam on September 17, President Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.  It warned that if the Confederacy did not surrender by January 1, 1863, he would free all the slaves in Confederate-held territory.  The document included a promise to seek federal funds for states enacting compensated emancipation plans (whether gradual or immediate) and for the voluntary colonization abroad of all black Americans.  It also indirectly authorized the use of black troops in the Union military.