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Period: to
- Reconstruction -
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The Freedmens Bureau
The Freedmen's Bureau was a federal agency. Just before the end of the Civil War, during the Reconstruction Era. The Freedmen's Bureau was established to help and protect emancipated slaves (freedmen) during their transition from a life of slavery to a life of freedom. -
President Lincoln is Assassinated
John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer, assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.With the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson became the 17th President of the United States -
The 13th Amendment is Passed
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 declared all persons born in the United States to be citizens, "without distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude. -
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is a the Secret Society based in the South. The original Ku Klux Klan was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee on December 24, 1865 during the Reconstruction Era following the American Civil War. The goal of the original Ku Klux Klan was to oppose the Reconstruction policies of the radical Republican Congress and to maintain "white supremacy." -
Military Reconstruction Acts
They wanted to punish the South, and to prevent the ruling class from continuing in power. 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. -
Reconstruction Ends
The Compromise of 1877 was an informal agreement between southern Democrats and allies of the Republican Rutherford Hayes to settle the result of the 1876 presidential election and marked the end of the Reconstruction era. -
Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment Trial
The primary charge against Johnson was that he had violated the Tenure of Office Act, passed by Congress in March 1867 over Johnson's veto. Specifically, he had removed from office Edwin Stanton, the secretary of war whom the act was largely designed to protect. -
Election of Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses Grant (1822-1885) commanded the victorious Union army during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and served as the 18th U.S. president from 1869 to 1877. An Ohio native, Grant graduated from West Point and fought in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). During the Civil War, Grant, an aggressive and determined leader, was given command of all the U.S. armies. -
14th Amendment
the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. The amendment grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" which included former slaves who had just been freed after the Civil War. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment guaranteed African-American men the right to vote. Almost immediately after ratification, African Americans began to take part in running for office and voting.