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Freedmen's Bureau
Main purpose was to help the freedmen and poor whites obtain food, shelter and clothing. They also established schools with the help of religios organizations. Most saw this as an act of kindness but some shunned the thought. In 1872, the American Missionary Association opened the school that in later years became the Atlanta Universiy. -
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Reconstruction of Georgia Timeline
Reconstruction is the time period of rebuilding the United States after the Civil War -
End of the Civil War
General Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant met at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia. There they both agreed on the terms of surrender. 3 days later, about 25,000 Confederate troops surrendered thier weapons and were allowed to go home. No one was tried for treason. -
Abraham Lincoln Assassinated
Lincoln was attending a play at Fords Theater. John Wilkes Booth snuck into a private booth and shot Lincoln in the head. The next day the President died from injury. Booth got away but later was cornered and shot while trying to escape. -
13th Amendment Ratified
On December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, officially ending the institution of slavery, was ratified. Many slaves were overwhelmed with joy from the abolishment of slavery. The ratification came eight months after the end of the war. It represented the culmination of the struggle against slavery. -
14th Amendment Ratified
On July 28, 1868, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. The amendment granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States". This also included former slaves who had just been freed after the Civil War. This act made many slaves very happy. -
Henry McNeal Turner elected to Senate
''Turner was among the two state senators and twenty-five black Republican state representatives elected to serve in the Georgia legislature.'' On September 3, 1868, Turner stood before the assembled representatives and denounced the legislators who had refused to seat the African American senators and representatives. -
15th Amendment Ratified
The 15th Amendment to the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. " Although ratified on February 3, 1870, the promise of the 15th Amendment would not be fully realized for almost a century. -
Georgia Readmitted to the Union
Georgia was first readmitted to the Union in 1868. However, its legislature refused to seat its new black members, so military rule was reimposed. After seating the black members, Georgia was readmitted in1870. This was the last and final readmittance of Georgia to the Union. -
Election of Rutherford B. Hayes
While still in the Army, Cincinnati Republicans ran Hayes for the House of Representatives. He accepted the nomination but explained he would no be campaining because "an officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer... ought to be scalped." Hayes was elected on March 4, 1877. Hayes had announced in advance that he would serve only one term, and retired to Spiegel Grove, his home in Fremont, Ohio, in 1881
