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13th amendment
13th amendment approved in January. Ratified in December. Abolished slavery in the United States. -
Assassination
Assassination of President Lincoln, April 15. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes president. -
Period: to
reconstruction
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kkk
the ku klux klan was created in tenessee -
civil rights
Civil Rights Act passed despite Presedent Johnson's earlier veto. -
freedmans bureua
Freedmans bureua responsibilities and powers expanded by Congress. Legislation is vetoed by Johnson but Congress overrides his veto. -
riot
A three-day race riot begins in Memphis, Tennessee. When it is over, forty-six blacks will have died. -
14th amendment
Congress approves the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which makes it illegal for any state to deny equality before the law to any male citizen. -
Speaking tour
President Andrew Johnson embarks on what will prove to be a disastrous "swing around the circle" speaking tour. -
Grand Wizard
Former Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest becomes the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, a white terrorist group formed a year earlier. -
Black Majority
A black majority is elected to the South Carolina legislature. -
Removing from office
U.S. senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts offers a fierce argument in favor of removing President Andrew Johnson from office. -
President
Ulysses S. Grant is elected President. -
NWSA
The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) is founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. -
15th amendment enacted
The 15th Amendment is enacted. It gives black males the right to vote. Despite this right, some Southern states add grandfather clauses to their state Constitutions to counter this new right. -
Elections
Hiram Rhoades Revels is the first black elected to the U.S. Senate and Joseph Hayne Rainey becomes the first black elected U.S. Representative. -
kkk act
The Ku Klux Klan Act is passed. It gives the federal government power to punish violators of civil rights laws. -
Native Americans
Congress declares that the Indian nations are no longer sovereign, an act that will lead to the gradual relocation of all Native Americans onto reservations -
Freedman's Bureau
The Freedman's Bureau is terminated. -
Realection
The Liberal Republican Party nominates New York newspaper editor Horace Greeley for president. Two months later, the Democratic Party also nominates Greeley. -
Amnestry Act
The Amnesty Act is passed. It removes the restrictions placed on Confederate office-holders. -
Democrats
Democrats gain control over the House of Representatives and the Senate. -
Civil Rights act
The Civil Rights Act is passed. It gives blacks equal access to public accommodations. -
Redeemers
Federal troops are withdrawn from the state capitols of South Carolina and Louisiana, allowing white supremacists known as "Redeemers" to take control of these states' governments. -
president
Republican Rutherford B. Hayes becomes president. The Compromise of 1877 allows for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South. -
End
The Recronstruction Era ends.