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Period: to
Reconstruction Era
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Freedman's Bureau
The Freedman's Bureau helped African Americans adapt to their newly found freedom. The bureau helped provide food, clothing, medical services, and it also helped them acquire land or find work for fair wages. -
President Lincoln is Assasinated
President Abraham Lincoln was assasinated by John Wilkes Booth in Ford's Theater, who shot Lincoln in the head. Lincoln died several hours later. This event shocked the country, and Vice President Andrew Johnson became the new President of the United States. -
Southern States Elect New Representatives
The Southern states created brand new governments based on President Johnson's Reconstruction Plan. The South also elected new representatives to Congress. However, Congress refused to seat these new representatives. Republicans were'nt going to let the South off that easy. -
The XIV Amendment
The XIV Amendment granted full citizenship to all people born in the United States. Congress passed this amendment in 1866, but it was enacted in 1868. This amendment stated that no state could take away any citizen's liberty, life, or property, without "due process of law". Everyone is also entitled to equal protection of these laws. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. It granted full citizenship to African Americans and also gave the federal government the power to intervene in state affairs in order to protect their rights. This law also overturned the black codes. This also canceled out the Supreme Court's decision in the DRED SCOTT CASE, which means that African Americans were now considered citizens. -
First Reconstruction Act
The First Reconstruction Act was passed in 1867. It called for the creation of new government in the 10 Southern states that did not ratify the XIV Amendment. However, Tennessee, which did ratify, kept its government and rejoined the Union. -
President Johnson
President Johnson was voted to be impeached by the House of Representatives. The House was outraged that Johnson removed E. Stanton, the Secretary of War, without the Senate's approval. Johnson was almost impeached, but he was suspended. -
Ulysses S. Grant is Elected President
Ulysses S. Grant was elected President of the United States in the Election of 1868. The Republicans abandoned Johnson and nominated Grant, the Civil War hero. The Democrats chose Horatio Seymour for their nomination. This election showed that the voters supported the Republican side of the Reconstruction plan. -
The XV Amendment
The XV Amendment prohibited the state and federal governments from denying the right to vote to any particular male citizen because of race, color, or previous servitude. However, women still could not vote. -
Congress Passes New Laws
Congress passed laws to limit the Ku Klux Klan, a secret society that used fear and violence to deny rights to freed men and women. They wore white sheets and hoods. Klan members killed 1000s of African Americans and their white friends. Congress then passed laws to help stop the growing violence of the Klan, but to no avail. Most white Southerners refused to testify against the Klan, for fear of getting hurt. -
Amnesty Act
Liberal Republicans helped pass the Amnesty Act, which pardoned most Southern Conferderates. Now almost all the white Southerners could vote and hold office gain. This act changed the political balance within the South. It restored full rights to all people who supported the Democratic political Party. -
African Americans in Government
Some African Americans were elected to participate in government. Blanche K. Bruce, an African American senator, came from Mississippi. He was a former escaped slave who taught in a school for African Americans, which was in Missouri when the Civil War began. In 1869 he went back to Mississippi and entered politics, and then was elected to the United States Senate in 1874. -
Compromise of 1877
The Democrats in Congress disputed Congress' decision for the 1876 election. They threatened to fight the decision. However, Congress declared Hayes the winner of the disputed election. This agreement, called the Compromise of 1877, included some favors to the south such as that the new government would give more aid to the South. Republicans agreed to withdraw all of the remaining Northern troops from Southern states. -
The 'New South'
The forward-looking Southerners were absolutely convinced that they must develop a strong industrial economy. They argued that the Confederates lost the Civil War because the South's industry did not match the North's. Textile mills and tobacco manufacturing sprung up all over the South. By 1890, Southern mills producted almost 20% of the nation's iron and steel. -
Jim Crow Laws/Segregation
Many public schools only allowed white students to attend them. African Americans had their own schools. Although the government said that segregation was 'seperate, but equal', it was not equal at all. Jim Crow Laws required African Americans and whites to be separated in almost every public place. Southern states passed these laws in order to control the African Americans. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
The Supreme Court decided to uphold segregation in their decision in the case PLESSY VS. FERGUSON. The Court ruled that segregation was legal only if the African Americans had access to public places equal to those of whites.
