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U.S. Supreme Court case ruled that African Americans were not citizens. This denied Dred Scott the ability to sue for his freedom in federal court. It also stated that Congress lacked the power to ban slavery from a federal territory. This further divided the nation and was a step closer to the Civil War -
The American Civil War lasted four years, it was primarily caused by disagreements over slavery and state rights.The war was fought between the union (the North) and the confederacy (the South). The conflict resulted in the unions victory, the reunification of the United States, and the abolition of slavery. -
The 13th Amendment is ratified which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States. It was the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments passed after the Civil War. -
The Ku Klux Klan was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee by confederate veterans. Many historians characterized it as Americas first terrorist group. The members would assault and murder politically active black people and their white political allies in the South. Federal law enforcement took action in 1871 and it shut down. -
The first reconstruction act divided ten former Confederate states into five districts under military control. These states were required to create new constitutions that included universal male suffrage , which needed to be approved by congress. -
The 14th Amendment is ratified, granting citizenship and equal rights to African Americans and slaves who had became free after the American Civil War. -
The 1868 presidential election was influenced by issues of Reconstruction and the rights of African Americans. Republican Ulysses S. Grant defeated democrat Horatio Seymour. -
Ulysses S. Grant first inaugural address laid the groundwork for his presidency by calling for national unity after the Civil War, and addressing issues like debt, Native American Rights, and voting rights for African Americans. -
The 15th Amendment was ratified which prohibits states from denying any citizen the right to vote based on their race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It was the third and final of the Reconstruction Amendments, it was intended to ensure African American men could vote. -
Thomas Mundy Peterson was from Metuchen, New Jersey. He was the first African American to vote after the 15th Amendment was ratified.