Video: 'President Abraham Lincoln 1st Inaugural Address - Hear and Read the Full Text'

(Monday, March 4, 1861, shortly after 1:00 p.m. local time) — Former Representative Abraham Lincoln, 52, of Illinois was inaugurated today as the 16th president of the United States at the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., with Chief Justice Roger B. Taney administering the oath of office.
Continue reading Abraham Lincoln inaugurated as 16th president of the United States, Hannibal Hamlin as 15th VP 160 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 4 1861) →

Video: 'The Secret Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln Before the Civil War'

(Saturday, February 23, 1861, 6:00 a.m. local time, during the Baltimore Plot) — With the nation on the brink of civil war over slavery, President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived safely in Washington, D.C., in disguise early this morning after learning of a plot to assassinate him as he passed through Baltimore, Maryland.
Continue reading President-elect Lincoln secretly arrives in Washington following word of possible assassination plot 160 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 23 1861) →

Video: 'Ken Burns’ Civil War, ep1 part 2-3' (Feb. 18, 1861, at 29:18)

(Monday, February 18, 1861, approximately 1:00 p.m. local time) — Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as provisional president of the Confederate States of America today on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery before an audience estimated at ten thousand people.
Continue reading Jefferson Davis sworn in as provisional president of the Confederate States of America 160 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 18 1861) →

Video: 'Lincoln's Farewell Address to Springfield'

(Monday, February 11, 1861, 8:00 a.m. local time) — With the country on the brink of civil war over the issue of slavery, U.S. President-elect Abraham Lincoln departed his adopted hometown of Springfield, Illinois, today en route to his inauguration in the nation’s capital on Mar. 4, 1861.
Continue reading President-elect Abraham Lincoln bids farewell to adopted hometown of Springfield, Illinois 160 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 11 1861) →

Video: 'The Confederate States of America'

(Friday, February 8, 1861, at around midnight local time) — The Confederate States of America (CSA), an unrecognized breakaway state that fought against the United States of America during the American Civil War, was formed late tonight in the Alabama Capitol at Montgomery when representatives from seven secessionist slave states unanimously ratified a Provisional Constitution.
Continue reading Seven secessionist slave states form Confederate States of America 160 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 8 1861) →

Video: 'Texas in the Civil War'

(Friday, February 1, 1861; 12 weeks after the 1860 United States presidential election) — 87 days after Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the presidential election of 1860 on a platform which opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories, Texas became the seventh state to leave the Union today when the the Texas Legislature voted 166-7 to secede.
Continue reading Texas becomes seventh Southern state to secede from the Union 160 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Feb 1 1861) →

Video: 'Kansas - 50 States - US Geography'

(Tuesday, January 29, 1861; during ) — Following the succession of six Southern states over the issue of preserving slavery, President James Buchanan signed a bill today officially admitting Kansas, located in the Midwestern United States, as a free state.
Continue reading Kansas enters the Union as a free state 160 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 29 1861) →

Video: 'Louisiana in the Civil War'

(Saturday, January 26, 1861; 11 weeks after the 1860 United States presidential election) — 81 days after Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the presidential election of 1860 on a platform which opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories, Louisiana became the sixth state to secede today when delegates to the Secession Convention meeting in Baton Rouge voted 113 to 17 to leave the Union.
Continue reading Louisiana becomes sixth Southern state to secede from the Union 160 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 26 1861) →