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Freedmen’s Bureau
Freedmen’s bureau was a government agency that was created to help African Americans with financial and legal troubles. This program was started by T.D Eliot, a representative of Massachusetts. He proposed that there should be a Bureau of emancipation to help African Americans stay protected and provide them with support. This Bureau went on to get renewed, but not without a fight. Andrew Johnson tried to veto the renewal, but congress overturned this, which led to his second overturned veto. -
Abraham Lincoln’s assassination
Things were looking good for the Union with President Abraham Lincoln calling the shots. That came to a halt the night of April 14th because Mr. Lincoln was shot in the back of the head. He was attending a play at Ford’s Theater when John Wilkes Booth shot him. This was a planned assassination and the weapon used in the killing was a .44-caliber pistol which held only one shot. Now with President Lincoln dead, Andrew Jackson had to step in and act as president. -
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United states. Assuming position after President Lincoln died, Johnson had one of the worst presidency’s known to man. He got the confederate states to come back to the union, but with little punishment. He was also the first president to get their veto overturned, with him having 3 vetos within the first 2 years of presidency. He was also apart of an impeachment trial and only missed getting impeached by 1 vote. -
13th amendment
The 13th amendment is one of the most important amendments of this time period. It granted African Americans freedom from being held as a slave. They no longer had to serve their masters and weren’t considered to be property of them. This amendment abolished slavery in all parts of the United States. The only way that you were to be a slave after this amendment was set in place as if you were convicted of a crime that was punishable by slavery. -
1867 Reconstruction Act
The reconstruction act of 1867 helped lots of people.There were 3 separate parts to it. The first part of this act divided the South into 5 military districts. The 5 districts included Va( district 1), NC & SC ( district 2 ), AL,GA, & FL ( district 3 ), AR & MS ( district 4 ), and TX & LA ( district 5). The second part of this act granted the right to vote for African Americans.The 3rd part ratified the 14th and 15th amendment. Andrew Johnson also tried to veto this but it got overturned. -
Andrew Johnson impeachment trial
President Johnson had a terrible presidency according to most. To cap off this presidency, he had an impeachment trial. There were many things that could have gotten Johnson an impeachment trial, only one made it to the court house. Within the Tenure of Office act, it states that a president could not remove certain office holders without getting approval from the senate. Johnson fired his secretary of War Stanton which violated this law. Somehow he missed impeachment by only 1 vote. -
The 14th Amendment
The 14th amendment was a very controversial amendment. Women of the 1860’s and 1870’s thought they were going to have more equal rights. This was not the case, even though the amendment states “people born or naturalized in the United States," including formerly enslaved people,,”. African American women thought this applied to them. Though this amendment had some controversial wording, it still provided some good to African Americans. It was the first time they had rights and protection. -
Ulysses S Grant
Ulysses S Grant was the 18th president serving from 1869-1877. Though before he served as the US president, he was a key military figure. He won the USA many battles which included the Civil War and the Battle of missionary ridge. During his time as president, Grant worked to keep civil rights for African Americans while also working on congressional reconstruction. He was a Republican, opposite of his fellow president Andrew Johnson. -
15th amendment
The 15th amendment was another controversial amendment for women. This amendment states “ The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” . Women thought they would get to vote because of how it stated that you couldn’t be denied because of race. The amendment is missing the word sex, which would have granted women this access that they so desperately wanted. -
Civil Rights Act of 1875
The Civil rights act of 1875 was an act long overdo to be put in place. It required full and equal access to jury service and to transportation and public accommodations no matter the race. This was the first time in history that African Americans were offered the same type of transportation and public accommodations as Americans. This is just another step of congress giving African Americans equal rights. -
US vs Cruikshank
US vs Cruikshank was a large Supreme Court case for its time. Cruikshank and many other Americans killed about 100 African Americans in the Colfax massacre. The reason for the killings came from a dispute about the governor election in Louisiana. Joseph Bradley believed that the right to equal protection and due process wasn’t protected by the federal government but the state government. The outcome for Cruikshank was to be charged with conspiring to deprive African Americans of their rights.