1863 |
December 1863:
The 10 Percent Plan |
President Lincoln announces a plan for reconstructing those Confederate states already under Union control. He offers to pardon Confederates who take an oath to support the Union. When ten percent of a state's citizens eligible to vote in 1860 swear an oath of allegiance and a state has abolished slavery, he promises to readmit the state to the Union.
By the end of the war, Lincoln publicly calls for limited black suffrage in the South. |
1864 |
July 1864:
The Wade-Davis Bill |
Many Congressional Republicans believe that the 10 Percent
Plan is too lenient since it does nothing to end the economic and political power of the planter class or protect the civil rights of ex-slaves. They also feel that the president has overstepped his authority by issuing a plan for reconstruction without consulting Congress.
Congressional Republicans outline their plan for reconstructing
the union. The Wade-Davis Bill requires each state to abolish
slavery, repudiate their acts of secession, and refuse to honor
wartime debts. It also stipulates that a majority, rather than
10 percent, of voters in 1860 take an oath of allegiance before
a state can be reorganized. Finally, it specifies that anyone
who wants to vote in a constitutional convention in a former
Confederate state must swear that he never voluntarily supported
the Confederacy.
Lincoln refuses to sign the Wade-Davis Bill because, he wrote,
he is not ready "to be inflexibly committed to any single
plan of restoration." |
1865 |
March 1865:
Freedman's Bureau |
To coordinate efforts to protect the rights of former slaves
and provide them with education and medical care, Congress creates the Freedmen's Bureau. One of the bureau's most important functions is to oversee labor contracts between ex-slaves and employers. |
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April 4, 1865:
Lincoln's Assassination |
Lincoln's assassination makes Vice President Andrew Johnson president. |
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May 1865:
Johnson Announces His Plan for Reconstruction |
Johnson grants immediate amnesty to former Confederates who
own less than $20,000 worth of property. Other ex-Confederates
may petition him for presidential pardons, which he freely grants.
His plan to readmit the former Confederate states requires them
to convene conventions to disavow their acts of secession, abolish
slavery, and repudiate their war debts.
By December, all the ex-Confederate states seek readmission
except Texas. But South Carolina refuses to condemn its act of
secession; Mississippi refuses to ratify the 13th Amendment,
abolishing slavery; and several states refuse to repudiate their
war debt. |
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November 1865:
Black Codes |
Beginning with Mississippi, the ex-Confederate states adopt "Black
Codes," legal codes that deny African Americans the
right to purchase or even rent land. The more stringent codes
also deny African Americans the right to bear arms, meet together
after sunset, and marry whites. Vagrancy laws allow authorities
to arrest blacks "in idleness" (including many children)
and assign them to a chain gang or auction them off to a planter
for as long as a year. Some laws allowed white citizens to arrest
any black person for such offenses as "insulting gestures"
and "malicious mischief." |
|
December 1865:
Johnson Declares the Union Restored |
Despite the failure to fully comply with his provisions for
readmission to the Union, President Johnson announces that the
Union is restored. But Congress refuses to seat the former Congressional
representatives from the former Confederate states.
Arguing that the former Confederate states had forfeited their
statehood and returned to the status of territories, a joint
committee of six Senators and nine Representatives declares that
only Congress, and not the president, can readmit them to the
Union. |
|
December 1865:
The States Ratify the 13th Amendment |
The 13th Amendment abolishes slavery. |
1866 |
February 1866:
Congress Attempts to Protect Ex-Slaves by Expanding the Power
of the Freedmen's Bureau |
Reacting to the Black Codes, Congress attempts to protect the
rights of the freedmen by increasing the power of the Freedmen's
Bureau, giving it the power to try people who deprive freedmen
of civil rights in military court. The bill is passed over President
Johnson's veto. |
|
April 1866:
Congress Passes the Civil Rights Act of 1866 |
The Civil Rights Act of 1866, adopted over President Johnson's
veto, enumerates the rights of citizens of the United States,
including the right to make contracts, sue, give evidence in
court, and purchase and sell property. |
|
June 1866:
Congress Submits the 14th Amendment to the States for Ratification |
Fearing that the Supreme Court might declare the Civil Rights
Act unconstitutional, Congress proposes the 14th Amendment, which
guarantees the citizenship of African Americans. This is necessary
because of the Supreme Court's 1857 Dred Scott decision. It
also cancels all Confederate debts, prohibits any government
from providing compensation for the loss of slaves, and prohibits
former Confederate officeholders from holding public office.
Although the amendment does not guarantee African Americans the
right to vote, it reduces the Congressional representation of
states that deny suffrage.
President Johnson urges southern legislatures to reject the
amendment. |
|
Summer 1866:
Whites Riot in Memphis and New Orleans |
Rioting in Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana, in which many
African Americans are killed, convinces many Northerners that
stronger measures are needed to protect the freedmen. |
|
Fall 1866:
Republicans Capture Two-Thirds of Both Houses of Congress |
In the fall elections of 1866, Republicans win majorities in
every northern legislature and a two-thirds majority in both
houses of Congress, assuring the party of enough votes to override
any presidential veto. |
1867 |
March 1867:
Congress Divides the South into Military Districts Subject
to Martial Law |
Over President Johnson's veto, Congress adopts a new program
for reconstruction. The First Reconstruction Act divides the
former Confederate states into five military districts
subject to martial law. It requires the ex-Confederate states
to ratify the 14th Amendment, adopt new state constitutions disqualifying
former Confederate officials from holding public office, and
guarantee black men the right to vote.
Some 703,000 African Americans are registered as voters. In
five states--Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South
Carolina--black voters make up a majority. |
1868 |
February-May 1868:
Impeachment of President Johnson |
To prevent the president from obstructing its reconstruction
program, Congress passes several laws restricting presidential
powers. These include legislation that prevents him from appointing
Supreme Court justices and that restricts his authority over the
army. The Tenure of Office Act bars him from removing, without Senate approval, officeholders that had been appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate.
In August 1867, Johnson tests the Tenure of Office Act by
removing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. In February 1868, the
House votes to impeach him by a vote of 126-47. In May, 35 Senators
vote for conviction and 19 against, one vote short of removing
the president from office. |
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Summer 1868:
Confederate States Readmitted to the Union and Georgia Expels Blacks from Its State Legislature |
In the summer of 1868, seven former Confederate states--Alabama (July 13, 1868), Arkansas (June 22, 1868), Florida (June 25, 1868),
Georgia* (July 21, 1868), Louisiana (July 9, 1868), North Carolina (July 4, 1868), and South Carolina (July 9, 1868) are
readmitted to the Union. In September, Georgia expels three black senators and 25 black representatives from its state legislature, prompting Congress to re-impose federal military rule in the state and barring Georgia's representatives from holding seats. *Georgia was readmitted to the Union on July 15, 1870. |
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November 1868:
Grant Elected President |
Ulysses S. Grant is elected president by only 306,000 votes out
of 5.7 million cast. His victory depends on 500,000 black votes. |
1869 |
February 1869:
Congress Proposes the 15th Amendment |
By 1868, only eight northern states permit African Americans
to vote. Nevertheless, in February 1869, Congress proposes the
15th Amendment, which forbids states
from depriving a citizen of the vote because of race, color,
or previous condition of servitude. The Amendment is ratified
in March 1870. |
1870-1871 |
May 1870 and April 1871:
The Force Act and the Ku Klux Klan Act |
To suppress violent intimidation by the Ku Klux Klan and other
secret organizations and to enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments,
Congress passes the Force Act and the Ku Klux Klan Act outlawing
the use of force to prevent people from voting. |
1874 |
1874:
Collapse of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company |
Many former slaves invested their savings in the Freedmen's Savings
and Trust Company, which had been chartered by the Federal government
to teach the value of thrift. It fails following the financial
panic of 1873, and the federal government does nothing to bail
out depositors. |
1875 |
March 1875:
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 |
This law guarantees equal rights in public places and prohibits
the exclusion of blacks from juries. A clause that would prohibit
segregated schools is defeated. |
1876-1877 |
1876-1877:
Disputed Presidential Election of 1876 |
In return for southern conservative support for Republican Rutherford
Hayes's inauguration as president, the Republican Party agrees
to withdraw all federal troops from the South, officially ending
Reconstruction. The Republicans also promise federal aid for
southern railroad construction and flood control along the Mississippi
River. |