Reconstruction

  • The Freedmen's Bureau established.

    The Freedmen's Bureau established.
    The Freedmen's Bureau, formally known as the Bureau of Refugees was established by Congress to help millions of former black slaves and poor whites in the South in the aftermath of the Civil War. This was passed in order to aid former slaves through food and housing, oversight, education, health care, and employment contracts with private landowners.
  • thirteenth Amendment ratified

    thirteenth Amendment ratified
    The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1866

    Civil Rights Act of 1866
    The act declared that all persons born in the United States were now citizens, without regard to race, color, or previous condition. The Congress passed the Civil Rights Bill to protect the ex-slaves.
  • Fourteenth Amendment ratified

    Fourteenth Amendment ratified
    The fourteenth amendment grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States which also included former slaves who had just been freed after the Civil War.
  • Fifteenth Amendment ratified

    Fifteenth Amendment ratified
    The fifteenth 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.