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Lincoln announces Plans for Reconstruction
Lincoln's guiding principles in reconstruction ignored all possible calls for punishing the South. His plan included taking an oath of loyalty to US and a pledge to obey all federal laws pertaining to slavery. -
Wade-Davis Bill Recieves Pocket Veto
The Wade-Davis Bill was a bill proposed for Reconstruction of the South written by Radical Republicans Benjamin Wade of Ohio and Henry Winter Davis of Maryland. The bill made re-admittance to the Union for former Confederate states to take the Ironclad Oath and was passed by both houses of Congress but pocket vetoed by Lincoln and never took effect. -
Lincoln re-elected President
The US Presidential Election of 1864 was between Republican nominee Lincolm and Democratic canidate George Mcllelan. On November 8, Lincoln won by nearly 400,000 popular votes. -
Formation of the Freedman's Bureau
Congress created the Freedmen's Bureau as part of early Reconstruction. The original duty of this was to aide in the transition of blacks from slaves to free men and women and to encourage them to gain employment. -
Assassination of Abe Lincoln
On the evening of April 14th, Lincoln was attending the comedy, "Our American Cousin" when James Wilkes Booth dropped the pistol and waved a dagger killing Mr. Lincoln. -
Black Codes created in Mississippi
The Black Codes were laws in the US that limited the civil rights and liberties of blacks. These laws were issued to control the labor, migration, and other activities of newly-freed slaves. -
President Andrew Johnson Announces Plan for Reconstruction
Johnson announced his plan for Reconstruction in May. It called for general amnesty and restoration of property (except for slaves) to all Southeners who will swear loyalty to the Union. -
Ratification of 13th Ammendment
The Thirteenth Ammendment outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude except as a punishment for a crime. -
Ku Klux Klan Created
The KKK advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacu, white nationalism, and anit-immigration. It was expressed through terrorism and was classified as a hate group. Members wore masks robes and hats to be outlandish and terrifying as well as to hide their identities. -
Civil Rights Act Enacted
The Civil Rights Act protected the civil rights of African-Americans and was vetoed twice by President Andrew Johnson but overcame the veto by a 2/3 majority in each house. -
Reconstruction Acts Enacted
The Reconstruction Act was "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the Rebel States". These Acts were created for former Confederate States to be readmitted into the Union and included the creation of five military districts in the South, required that each state draft a new constitution, required ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment and more. -
President Andrew Johnson Impeached
Andrew Johnson was impeached after he bereached the Tenure of Office Act by removing Edwin Stanton (Security of War) from office. The Tenure of Office Act stated that a presidnent couldn't dimiss appointed officials without the consent of Congress. -
Ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" and forbidded anyone to deny any person of "life, liberty or property without due process of law." This amendment was rejected by most of the south but ratified by the required 3/4 of the states. -
Ulysses S. Grant elected President
As President, Grant led the Radical Republicans in their effort to eliminate Condederate nationalism and slavery. He effectively destroyed the KKK. -
Hiram Revels elected to Senate
Hiram Revels was the first person of color to serve in the U.S Senate and in the U.S Congress. He represented Mississippi in 1870 and 1871 during Reconstruction. -
Ratification of the 15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment of the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by saying the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged... on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." -
Ku Klux Klan Act Enacted
The Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 gave those deprived of their civil rights the oppurtunity to sure in federal court and authorized the presiden to suspend the writ of habeus corpus in order to break the KKK. -
Freedmen's Bureau Abolished
Freedmen's Bureau was the least liked tool of Reconstruction. After providing government assistance to refugees of the Civil War, it was handed over to the war department and then issued an order of discontinuing it by the Secretary of War. -
Civil Rights Act (1875) Passed
The Civil Rights Act guarenteed African Americans equal treatment in public accomodations, public transportation, and prohibited exclusion from jury service. -
"Jim Crow" enters the American cultural language
Between 1876 and 1965, the Jim Crow laws were enacted as state and local laws mandating segregration. The separation led to conditions that were inferior to African- Americans than those provided for white Americans, including social, economic, and educational disadvantages. -
Rutherford B Hayes elected President
Hayes was the nineteenthPresident of the United States and oversaw the end of Reconstruction. During his election, his opponent Samuel Tilden had won the popular vote and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes 165, but lost to Hayes after 20 uncounted, disputed electoral votes were handed to Hayes. -
Last National Troops Leave South Carolina
The last troops left the South after a compromise was reached that would stop federal government from governing the south. -
Civil Rights Act Overturned
The Civil Rights Act was overturned because it was proved to be unconstitutional based on the 14th Amendment. because it regulated individuals rather than states. -
Florida Requires Segregation in Places of Public
Florida was the first of all the states to require segregation in places of public accomodation. They did this by having racial separation in the juries and literary tests and poll taxes all interfering with their ability to vote. -
Case of Plessy v. Ferguson
After Louisiana passed the Separate Car Act, Homer Plessy decided to test the law knowing that while he was born a free man, under Lousiana Law he was classified as black and required to sit in the "colored" car. In this case, Plessy argued that the state law denied him rights under the 13th and 14th amendments and he was sentenced a 25 dollar fine and a writ of prohibition.
