December 1816
Indiana became the nineteenth state and enters the Union as a free state
The Emancipation Proclamation
In the midst of the Civil War on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation declared that slaves in states that had seceded from the Union "are, and henceforward, shall be free." However, the document did have its flaws, as those who were slaves in states loyal to the Union were still bound. Nevertheless, it lifted the spirits of the nation and helped to shape the tone of the war.
The Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln
On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer, fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln at a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. It is quite ironic that Booth ended up killing the President, because Booth actually performed at the Ford Theatre for Lincoln in November of 1863. The attack occurred only five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, which ended the Civil War.
The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment was passed June 1865. This amendment give citizenship to all people born or naturalized, which means that people that weren't born in the U.S can get citizenship by fulfilling requirements passed by congress. The Fifteenth Amendment passed February of 1869. It guaranted that no American would be denied the right to vote on race.