-
Emancipation Proclamation issued
Frees slaves in states in rebellion and authorizes the enlistment of black troops. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
The Freedmen's Bureau established
Provides assistance to emancipated African Americans; food, shelter, clothing, and medical services. Also provides land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans. -
Lee surrenders
Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. Joseph E. Johnston's surrender in North Carolina on April 18 effectively ends the Civil War. -
President Abraham Lincoln assassinated
Andrew Johnson became President of the United States upon the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. -
Black Codes enacted
Southern states enact laws restricting rights of African Americans. The best known of these laws were in order to restrict African Americans' freedom, and in order to compel them to work for either low or no wages. -
13th Amendment ratified
Abolishes slavery in the United States. -
Memphis Race Riot
White civilians and police kill 46 African Americans and destroy 90 houses, schools, and four churches in Memphis, Tennessee. -
New Orleans Race Riot
a peaceful demonstration of mostly Black Freedmen was set upon by a mob of white rioters, many of whom had been soldiers of the recently defeated Confederate States of America, leading to a full-scale massacre. Police kill more than 40 black and white Republicans and wound more than 150. -
Fourteenth Amendment ratified
Guarantees citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized in the United States," including formerly enslaved people, and provided all citizens with “equal protection under the laws.” -
Ulysses S. Grant
The former Union general becomes the 18th president. -
First black senator
Hiram Revels of Mississippi elected to U. S. Senate as the first black senator. Everyone in the galleries stood to see him sworn in. -
Fifteenth Amendment ratified
Congress proposed a new amendment that would ban all restrictions on the right to vote regarding ethnicity and prior slave status. In spite of heavy opposition by the Southern delegations, it extended the vote to all male citizens regardless of racer or previous condition of servitude. -
Period: to
Forty-second Congress
a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. Benjamin S. Turner, Josiah T. and Robert Brown Elliot, Joseph H. Rainey and Robert Carlos. -
Period: to
First African American governor
P. B. S. Pinchback was an acting governor of Louisiana. Pinchback, a black politician, was the first black to serve as a state governor, although due to white resistance, his tenure is extremely short. -
Civil Rights Act of 1875 enacted by Congress
Guarantees equal rights to African Americans in public accommodations and jury service. Ruled unconstitutional in 1883. -
Disputed Presidential election
Republicans challenged the validity of the voting in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. The result remains among the most disputed to this day. -
Reconstruction ends
President Rutherford Hayes withdraws federal troops from the South protecting the Civil Rights of African Americans.