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Emancipation Proclamation Issued
Freed the slaves in states, rebellion, and authorizes the enlistment of black troops. -
Lincoln re-elected president
Lincoln re-elected president -
The Freedmens Bureau established
Provides assistance to emancipate African Americans. Abolished in 1872. -
Lee Surrenders
Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomatox Court House. Joseph E. Johnston's surrender in North Carolina on April 18 effectively ends the Civil War. -
President Abraham Lincoln assassinated
Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes president. -
13th Amendment Ratified
Abolishes slavery in the United States. -
Black Codes Enacted
Southern states enact laws restricting rights of African Americans. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Confers citizenship on African Americans and guarantees equal rights. -
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
Police kill more than 40 black and white Republicans and wound more than 150. -
Ku Klux Klan
A secret organization to intimidate African Americans and restore white rule is founded in Pulaski, Tennessee. -
Reconstruction Acts
Congress divides the former Confederacy into five military districts and requirs elections in which African American men can vote. -
President Johnson's Impeachment trial
By one vote, the U.S. Senate fails to remove the president from office. -
14th Amendment Ratified
Guarantees due process and equal protection under the law to African Americans. -
Ulysess S. Grant elected president
The former Union general becomes 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, followed by Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia in 1870. -
First Black Senator elected
Hiram Revels of Mississippi elected to U. S. Senate as the first black senator -
15th Amendment ratified
Extends the vote to all male citizens regardless of racer or previous condition of servitude. -
Forty-Second Congress
Five black members in the House of Representatives: Benjamin S. Turner of Alabama; Josiah T. Walls of Florida; and Robert Brown Elliot, Joseph H. Rainey and Robert Carlos DeLarge of South Carolina. -
Freedmens Bureau abolished
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First African American Government
P. B. S. Pinchback, acting governor of Louisiana from December 9, 1872 to January 13, 1873. Pinchback, a black politician, was the first black to serve as a state governor, although due to white resistance, his tenure is extremely short. -
Democrats control the thirty-third congress
For the first time since before the Civil War, Democrats control both houses of Congress. Robert Smalls, black hero of the Civil War, elected to Congress as representative of South Carolina. Blanche K. Bruce elected to U. S. Senate. -
Civil Rights Act of 1875 enacted by Congress.
For the first time since before the Civil War, Democrats control both houses of Congress. Robert Smalls, black hero of the Civil War, elected to Congress as representative of South Carolina. Blanche K. Bruce elected to U. S. Senate. -
Disputed presidential Election
Republicans challenged the validity of the voting in Souh Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. -
Wade Hampton inaugurated as governor of South Carolina.
The election of Hampton, a leader in the Confederacy, confirms fears that the South is not committed to Reconstruction -
Reconstruction Ends
President Rutherford Hayes withdraws federal troops from the South protecting the Civil Rights of African Americans. -
Rutherford B. Hayes inaugurated President.
Electoral Commissoin awards disputed electoral votes tot he republican candidate.
