-
The Freedman's Bureau
The Freedman's Bureau was established to help and protect emancipated slaves during their transition from a life of a slave to a freedman. It helped provide food, clothing, healthcare, and education for both black and white refugees in the south. It also helped reunite families, negotiate fair labor contracts, and help represent African Americans in court. -
President Lincoln was assassinated
President Abraham Lincoln was shot in the back of his head by John Wilkes Booth while attending a play at the Ford Theatre in Washington, D.C. sitting in the Presidental Box. Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated in the U.S. Major Rathbone tried to stop Booth but ended up getting stabbed. Booth used a small pistol to shoot Lincoln and ended up escaping but got cornered in a barn where he was shot by soldiers after refusing to surrender. Lincoln died on April 15, 1865. -
The 13th Amendment is Passed
The 13th Amendment made slavery illegal in the United States. The fight to end slavery in the United States took several years and finally ended with the ratification of the 13th Amendment. It was adopted as part of the constitution on December 6, 1865. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act was passed on April 9, 1866. It detailed the rights of all U.S. citizens, including the right to buy and sell property, engage in business, make contracts, sue, and give evidence in court. It was to protect ex-slaves from legislation in the southern states such as the Black Codes and the Vagrancy Laws. Gave further rights to the freed slaves. -
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan is a Secret Society based in the south. The original kkk was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee on December 24, 1865. Its goal for the original KKK was to oppose the Reconstruction policies of the radical Republican Congress and to maintain white supremacy. It reached a peak of 4-5 million members, a further resurgence of the KKK occurred in the 1960s opposing the Civil Rights Movement. -
Military Reconstruction Acts
They passed the Military Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which divided the South into five military districts and outlined how the new governments would be designed. They wanted to punish the South and to prevent the ruling class from continuing in power. Reconstruction refers to the period following the Civil War of rebuilding the United States, it was a time of great pain. -
Andrew Johnson's Impeachment Trail
The House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States impeached President Andrew Johnson and was accused of high crimes and misdemeanors. Andrew Johnson had to answer 12 articles of Impeachment and was acquitted in the Senate by one vote less than the two-thirds necessary to remove him and was allowed to continue his term of office. Was impeached for his removal of Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War and member of his cabinet, in violation of the law called the Tenure of Office Act. -
Election of Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses, the 18th president, most known for being the lead general of the Union troops during the American Civil War. His presidency was marked by a series of scandals. People in his administration were crooks who stole from the government. He fought for the Civil Rights of both African Americans and Native Americans, pushed for the 15th Amendment, giving the right of all men to vote regardless of race, color, or if they were former slaves. -
14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment is an amendment to the United States Constitution that was adopted in 1868. It granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and enslaved people who had been emancipated after the American Civil War. The amendment authorized the government to punish states that abridge citizens' rights to vote by proportionally reducing their representation in Congress. -
15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment protects the voting rights of all citizens regardless of race or the color of their skin. It also protected the voting rights of former slaves. -
Reconstruction Ends
The rebuilding of the South after the Civil War is called the Reconstruction. The Reconstruction lasted from 1865 to 1877. The purpose of the Reconstruction was to help the South become a part of the Union again and Reconstruction officially ended under the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877. He removed the federal troops from the South and the state governments took over. Unfortunately, many of the changes to equal rights were immediately reversed.