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Period: to
Reconstruction
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Lincoln announces Ten Percent Plan
On December 8, 1863, Lincoln announced that this plan would allow a state to be readmitted to the Union only if 10% of its voters agree to swear an oath to stay loyal to the Union and agree to end slavery. -
Lincoln vetoes the Wade-Davis Bill
Even though the bill is passed by both houses of Congress, Lincoln vetoes the bill proposed by the Radical Republicans that required all states to grant African-American men the right to vote. -
Lincoln re-elected
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13th Amendment approved and ratified by Congress
On this date, the 13th Amendment is approved by Congress (it's not ratified until December 6). This amendment states that all African-Americans are free from their masters and can no longer be owned as property or separated from their families. -
Congress creates Freedmen's Bureau
As one of the first acts of legislation by Reconstruction Congress, the Freedmen's Bureau was created as a welfare agency to help former slaves become US citizens. It also offered other services to former slaves. -
Lee Surrenders at Appomattox Court House - Civil War ends
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Lincoln assassinated; Johnson becomes president
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Mississippi enacts first Black Code
This is the date the Mississippi enacts the first Black Code. The Black Codes were laws that basically demoted African Americans to second-class citizens. They denied blacks the right to vote, own property, bear a weapon, etc. -
Johnson declares Reconstruction complette
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Radical Republicans
Radical Republicans were a part of a political party that supported blakc rights. They're dangerous to Reconstruction because they want black rights but southerners don't want them. So this is preventing the North and South from reuniting. -
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Reconstruction Acts
There were a series of 3 Reeconstruction Acts. The 1st Reconstruction Act (also known as the MIlitary Reconstruction Act). This law divided the South into five military districts each run by a Union general. If a state wanted to be readmitted to the Union, it had to create a new Congress-approved Constitution, guarantee black men the right to vote, and ratify the 14th Amendment. -
Johnson impeached
President Johnson was impeached because he tried to stop the Military Reeconstruction Act by firing Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of War who also happened to be a Radical Republican. -
14th Amendment Ratified
The 14th Amendment is an amendment that says a state can't restrict anyone's basic rights based on race. -
Ulysses S. Grant elected
Ulysses S. Grant was a good president. I think so because he withdrew Union troops from teh South which eased the tension between the North and South. He also shut down down the Freedmen's Bureau which honestly didn't help blacks (even though that's what it was advertised to do). -
15th Amendment ratified
The 15th Amendment said that any U.S. citizen is allowed the right to vote despite their skin color. -
Sharecropping
The economic system of sharecropping started with the presideny of Ulysses S. Grant. Sharecropping is an economic system where a landowner rents a piece of land to a farmer. In return, the farmer gives the landowner a portion of their crops. This is a way for former slaves to stay dependent on their former masters. -
Enforcement Acts
The Enforcement Acts are the three laws passed by Congress that protect black's right to vote, hold public office, serve on juries, and receive equal protection of laws. -
Amnesty Act of 1872
This act allowed former Confederates to run for public office. -
Freedmen's Bureau terminated
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Lame-duck Congress passes Civil Rights Act
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Disputed election
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Hayes declared president; Reconstruction ends
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Compromise of 1877
This compromise says that if the Democrats agreed to say that Rutherford B. Hayes won the ballots, the Republicans would remove federal troops from the south.
