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The Freedmen's Bureau helped freed slaves and even poor white people after the war. The bureau was famous for establishing schools for people that could not afford it. They helped the poor not just by providing free schooling, but by settling labor disputes, housing people, creating hospitals. They also supplied people with the essentials like clothing, water, and food. The Freemen's Bureau ended in 1872. They also kept record of letters that people wrote and mailed out (National Archives).
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Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth with a gun. Lincoln died the next day. Lincoln was watching the play, Our American Cousin. He got shot on the back of his head. John Wilkes Booth loved the Confederacy and wanted black people to continue to be slaves. After Lincoln died, Andrew Johnson, his former vice president, became the president. He was a democrat. Andrew Johnson got sworn in on April 15, 1865. He was the 17th president of the United States (National Park Service).
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After the Civil War, Black Codes were enacted in the Southern states. Some examples of laws that were passed were: black people were arrested if they did not have proof of employment. For some jobs, black people needed a special license to be able to work there. In some places, black people could not be out past a certain time. We did not go over this in class, but black codes were a big part of life after the Civil War for black people (History 2023).
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The thirteenth amendment is a law that was enacted to make slavery illegal in the United States. The bill was passed through Congress on January 31, 1865. The first draft originally did not pass in the house. Lincoln worked hard to convince the democrats in the House of Representatives to pass (National Archives 2022). In class we talked about the Emancipation Proclamation and how that ended the war, but not how the thirteenth amendment of the Constitution ended slavery as a whole.
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The KKK was founded by a group of Confederates. It was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee. The KKK is a terrorist/white supremacist group. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a former slave trader, became the clan's leader, also called the Grand Wizard. The KKK put fear into black people. They have injured, intimated, and killed black people into submission. They also are known for their burning of the cross. The KKK had control over getting elected officials in. Now they have no control (History 2023).
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The 14th Amendment was a law that was passed that guaranteed equality, freedom, liberties, and rights to all people, no matter what religion, nationality, or color you were. People were granted citizenship and voting rights under the law. They were also granted due process if they were ever accused of a crime (National Archives 2024). We did not talk about the 14th Amendment. I wanted to include information about it because it was important for the advancement of black people in the US.
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The 15th Amendment grants all males, no matter what race you are, the right to vote. No matter if you were a former slave or not, you were given the right to vote. This amendment did not include a women's right to vote (National Archives 2024). We did not talk about this amendment in class. Although, I thought it would be great to add this in because this amendment was an advancement to the black community. Black people could finally get some the rights they deserve.
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Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first black man elected into Congress. In served in the United States Senate. He was a teacher and also a preacher before becoming a congressman. He won by 81 to 15 votes, which was a landslide (National Constitution Center 2024). We did not talk about this man and his accomplishments in class. So, for that reason, I really wanted to add him to this timeline. This was a huge moment in history and really important to black history.
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Joseph Hayne Rainey was the first black man to serve in the House of Representatives. He served for almost 10 years in the House. He was a Republican. He was also from South Carolina and was born a slave. He was a businessman before serving on the House. He past away on August 1, 1887 when he was 55 years old (New York Public Library). We did not talk about this in class, but I wanted to include this because electing a black person into the House of Representatives was a real leap forward.
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Pinckney Benton Stewart (P. B. S.) Pinchback was the first governor of the Louisiana. He was governor for only a year. He was Republican. He helped to create a college called Southern University. He was born on May 10, 1837 in Macon, Georgia. He died on December 21, 1921 in Washington, DC (Louisiana Secretary of State). We never talked about him P. B. S. Pinchback in class, but I thought it was informative to find out who was the first black governor.