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The Freedmen's Bureau was established
The Freedmen's Bureau had the power to divide confiscated and abandoned confederate land from former slaves. This was important because former slaves felt like owning land was the key to freedom. -
Andrew Johnson becomes president
After Abraham Lincoln is assassinated, Andrew Johnson becomes president. Johnson felt as if the South never had a right to succeed in the first place and resented the elites in the South, on top of that he was also a racist. -
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Johnson appoints provisional governors
Between 1865 and 1867 Johnson appointed provisional governors and ordered them to call state conventions to establish new, all white governments. These new governments seemed to look like the old confederate governments they replaced. -
The Civil Rights Act was passed
The act declared that all persons born in the United States were now citizens, without regard to race, color, or previous condition. -
Share Cropping replaces slavery in many places
Share cropping was when land owners provided housing, tools, and seed in return for peoples services. The share croppers would then receive a share of the crop in return. -
The first all black universities were founded
Fisk and Howard Universities opened up to allow black people to receive an education. Along with these many other primary and secondary schools also opened. -
Congress passed the Reconstruction Act
The Reconstruction Act divided the South into 5 military districts and required each state to create a new government. These new governments were required to include participation from black men. -
The 14th Amendment was ratified
The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves recently freed. In addition, it forbids states from denying any person "life, liberty or property, without due process of law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
