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Emancipation Proclimation issued
This frees all slaves in the states that are in rebellion. Also allows for the establishment of black troops. -
Lincoln issues Proclomation of Amnesty and Reconftruction
Lincoln offered a general amnesty to all Southerners who took an oath of loyalty to the United States and accepted the Union's proclomation on slavery. 10 percent of a state's voters had to take this oath before they could organize a new state government. -
Lincoln relected
Abraham Lincoln was relected as the President of the United States. -
Freedma's Bureau established
Freedman's Bureau was an agency that helped freed African Americans. It helped them get food, housing, and education. -
Lee surenders
Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomatox Court House. Joseph E. Johnston's surrender in North Carolina ends the Civil War. -
Lincoln is assassinated
President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated in Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C., by John Wilkes Booth. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes president. -
13th Amendment ratified
Amendment abolishes slavery and involuntary servatude in the United States. Although it could still be used as apunishment for a crime. -
Black Codes enacted
Black Codes were laws that restricted the rights of African Americans. They limited their human rights and civil liberties. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Is a federal law that was mainly intended to protect the civil rights of African Americans. President vetoed it twice but two thirds of each house overcome the veto. -
Memphis Race Riot
White civilians and police kill 46 African Americans. They also destroy houses, schools, and four churches in Memphis, Tennessee. -
New Orleans Race Riot
Police kill more than 40 black and white Republicans. they also wound more than 150. -
Ku Klux Klan
A secret organization to intimidate African Americans and restore white rule is founded in Pulaski, Tennessee. They wore white robes and often burned crosses. -
Reconstruction Acts
Congress divides the former Confederacy into five military districts. It also requirs elections in which African American men can vote. -
President Johnson's Impeachment Trial
President Johnson was trialed for impeachment for the violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The Senate failed to remove him from office by one vote. -
14th Amendment Ratified
Grants citizenship to everyone born in the United States. Also protects civil and political rights. -
Ulysses S. Grant elected president
He was a former Union general. He became the 18th president. -
First Redeemer Government
Tennessee is the first state to replace a bi-racial Republican state government with an all-white Democratic government. Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia also did, later in 1870. -
First black senator elected
Hiram Revels of Mississippi elected to U.S. Senate. Also first African American in U.S. Congress. -
15th Amendment ratified
Allows all men, no matter what race, to vote. First time anyone besides white men can vote. -
42nd Congress
Congress is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. This congress had 5 black members in the House of Representatives. -
First African American Governor
P.B.S. Pinchback was the first person of African American decent to serve as a state governor. Although his tenure was very short. -
Democrates rule 43rd Congress
For the first time since before the Civil War, Democrats control both houses of Congress. Robert Smalls elected to Congress as representative of South Carolina. Blanche K. Bruce elected to U. S. Senate. -
Civil Rights Act of 1875 enacted by Congress.
Guarantees equal rights to African Americans in public accomodations and jury service. Ruled unconstitutional in 1883. -
Wade Hampton inaugurated as governor of South Carolina
He was a leader in the Confederacy. The election of Hampton confirms fears that the South is not committed to Reconstruction. -
Reconstruction ends
Rutherford B. Hayes was elected president. President Rutherford Hayes withdraws federal troops from the South protecting the Civil Rights of African Americans.
