I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4771 
To establish a commission to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the 
American Civil War. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 4, 2010 
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
A BILL 
To establish a commission to commemorate the 
sesquicentennial of the American Civil War. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civil War Sesqui-
centennial Commission Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
(1) The American Civil War was a defining ex-
perience in the development of the United States. 
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(2) The people of the United States continue to 
struggle with issues of race, civil rights, heritage, 
and the politics of federalism, which are legacies of 
the Civil War and Reconstruction. 
(3) There is a resurgence of interest in the Civil 
War that is evidenced by the multitude of publica-
tions, exhibits, reenactments, research organizations, 
Internet and multimedia resources, historic parks, 
and preservation associations focused on the Civil 
War. 
(4) The years 2010 through 2015 mark the ses-
quicentennial of the period beginning with the elec-
tion of Abraham Lincoln and concluding with the 
end of the Civil War. Notable milestones during this 
period include the following: 
(A) On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lin-
coln was elected President of the United States. 
(B) On December 20, 1860, in a special 
convention, the South Carolina Legislature 
voted to secede from the Union following the 
election of Lincoln. In the early months of the 
following year, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, 
Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas seceded and 
formed the Confederate States of America. 
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(C) In April 1861, Confederate forces fired 
on Fort Sumter, the first shots fired in the 
Civil War. In response, President Lincoln or-
dered the blockade of all Confederate ports and 
called for 75,000 volunteers to enlist in the 
Union Army. Four more Southern States—Vir-
ginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Caro-
lina—seceded in the months following the at-
tack on Fort Sumter. 
(D) The Civil War spawned numerous 
campaigns, battles, and engagements, including 
Bull Run, the Monitor versus the Merrimac, the 
Peninsula Campaign, Shiloh, the Capture of 
New Orleans, the Shenandoah Valley Cam-
paign, Seven Pines, Seven Days, Antietam, 
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, 
the Siege of Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Chat-
tanooga, Wilderness, the Siege at Petersburg, 
the Capture of Atlanta, the March to the Sea, 
Nashville, and Appomattox. 
(E) In January 1863, President Lincoln 
issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing 
all slaves in States considered to be in rebellion 
against the Federal Government. 
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(F) On June 28, 1864, President Lincoln 
repealed all fugitive slave laws. 
(G) On January 31, 1865, the United 
States Congress passed the 13th Amendment to 
the Constitution, abolishing slavery and invol-
untary servitude. 
(H) On April 9, 1865, Confederate General 
Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox 
Courthouse. 
(I) On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln 
was shot by Confederate sympathizer John 
Wilkes Booth while attending a play at Ford’s 
Theatre, and died the next day. 
(J) In April and May 1865, Confederate 
Generals Joseph Johnson and E. Kirby Smith, 
leaders of the remaining organized Confederate 
Forces, surrendered, formally ending the South-
ern Resistance. 
(K) By the end of the Civil War, an esti-
mated 600,000 Union and Confederate soldiers 
had been killed and over 471,000 wounded, 
making the Civil War the bloodiest war in the 
history of our Nation. 
(5) The sesquicentennial of the Civil War pre-
sents a significant opportunity for Americans to re-
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