Download Reconstruction Timeline

Reconstruction Timeline
Jan 1, 1863
Second Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln issues the second Emancipation Proclamation, emphasized as a war measure, which frees all slaves in states or parts of
states that were still in rebellion against the United States.
Dec 8, 1863
10 Percent Plan
Lincoln issues a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which comes to be known as his 10 Percent Plan.
Jul 8, 1864
Wade Davis Bill
Republicans in Congress propose the Wade Davis Bill as an alternative to Lincoln's 10 Percent Plan. Lincoln pocket-vetoes it.
Jan 16, 1865
Military Gives 40 Acres
General William T. Sherman issues Special Field Order 15, setting aside confiscated plantation land in the Sea Islands and
along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia for black families to settle in 40-acre plots. Some 40,000 freedmen and women
are living on the land by June.
Mar 3, 1865
Freedmen Bureau Established
The temporary Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (known as the Freedmen's Bureau) is established within
the War Department.
Mar 3, 1865
Freedmen Savings Bank
Congress also charters the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company, commonly called the Freedmen's Savings Bank.
Apr 9, 1865
Surrender at Appomattox
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his army to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
Booth Shoots
President Lincoln is shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth while attending the comedy "Our American Cousin" at
Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. He dies the next day.
Johnson Becomes President
Andrew Johnson becomes the seventeenth president upon the death of Abraham Lincoln.
May 1, 1865
Presidential Reconstruction
President Johnson announces his plan of Presidential Reconstruction (1865-7).
Oct 1, 1865
Pardon’s Issued
Johnson's strict pardon policy has been abandoned; wealthy planters are quickly brought back into the union. By September,
hundreds of pardons were being issued in a single day—some 13,000 in all.
Nov 1, 1865
Southerners Slow
Southern states elect former Confederates to public office at the state and national levels, drag their feet in ratifying the
Thirteenth Amendment, and refuse to extend the vote to black men.
Nov 1, 1865
Black Codes
Southern legislatures begin drafting "Black Codes" to re-establish white supremacy.
Jul 7, 1865
Lincoln Conspirators
Four people are hanged in Washington, D.C., after being convicted of conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate
President Abraham Lincoln.
Dec 18, 1865
13th Amendment Ratified
The Thirteenth Amendment is ratified, prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude.
Dec 1, 1865
Johnson Declares End to Reconstruction
President Johnson declares the reconstruction process complete. Outraged, Radical Republicans in Congress refuse to recognize
new governments in southern states.
Dec 1, 1865
Union Demobilized
The Union Army is quickly demobilized. From a troop strength of one million on May 1, only 152,000 Union soldiers remain in
the South by the end of 1865.
Dec 1, 1865
South Grows
Southern towns and cities start to experience a large influx of freedmen. Over the next five years, the black populations of the
South's ten largest cities will double.
Dec 24, 1865
Ku Klux Klan Begins
An organization primarily composed of Confederate Army veterans founds the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a terrorist group formed
to intimidate blacks and other ethnic and religious minorities. It first meets in Pulaski, Tennessee. The Klan is the first of many
secret terrorist organizations organized in the South for the purpose of reestablishing white authority.
Feb 2, 1866
Douglass Meets Johnson
A black delegation led by Frederick Douglass meets with President Andrew Johnson at the White House to advocate black
suffrage. The president expresses his opposition, and the meeting ends in controversy.
Apr 9, 1866
Civil Rights Bill
Congress passes the Civil Rights Bill over Johnson's veto. Johnson objects to the Bill on the grounds that blacks did not deserve
to become citizens, and that doing so would discriminate against the white race. He also thought that both the Civil Rights Bill
and the Freedmen's Bureau Bill would centralize power at the federal level, thus depriving states of the authority to govern their
own affairs (a typical prewar philosophy of government).
May 1, 1866
Racial Violence Rages
Racial violence rages in Memphis, Tennessee for three days as whites assault blacks on the streets. In the aftermath, 48 people,
nearly all black, are dead, and hundreds of black homes, churches, and schools have been pillaged or burned. Many more are
injured.
Jul 24, 1866
Tennessee Returns to Union
Tennessee is the first former Confederate state readmitted to the Union.
Jul 30, 1866
New Orleans Riots
Riots and a race massacre break out in New Orleans, Louisiana. A white mob attacks blacks and Radical Republicans attending
a black suffrage convention, killing 40 people.
Oct 1, 1866
Further Demobilization
Union army troops are further demobilized; only 38,000 remain in the South by the fall. More than half of the ones stationed in
some places, such as Louisiana, are black.
Jul 16, 1866
Third Freedman Bill
Congress passes a third Freedman's Bureau bill, overriding another veto.
Nov 1866
Presidential Reconstruction Begins
RANGEEND_PRESIDENTIAL_RECONSTRUCTION Republicans win well over a two-thirds majority in the House of
Representatives and the Senate; the election is seen as a popular referendum on the widening divide between Johnson and the
Radicals.
Jan 8, 1867
Black Men Vote in DC
Overriding President Johnson's veto, Congress grants black male citizens in the District of Columbia the right to vote.
Mar 2, 1867
Radical Reconstruction Acts
Congress passes the first series of Reconstruction Acts (Military, Command of the Army, and Tenure of Office). Congressional,
or "Radical" Reconstruction commences.
Mar 23, 1867
Second Reconstruction Act
Congress passes the Second Reconstruction Act; military commanders in each southern district are to register all qualified adult
males to vote.
Mar 30, 1867
Seward’s Folly
The U.S. buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million (1.9¢ per acre); this is dubbed a foolish purchase at the time, named
"Seward's Folly" after the Secretary of State (William Henry Seward) who negotiated it.
Aug 28, 1867
Midway Islands Annex
The U.S. occupies (annexes) the Midway Islands in the Pacific.
Jul 19, 1867
Third Reconstruction Act
Congress passes the Third Reconstruction Act. Registrars are directed to go beyond the loyalty oath by determining the
eligibility of each person who wants to take it; district commanders are authorized to re-take control by replacing the preexisting
state officeholders.
Aug 12, 1867
Tenure of Office Act
Johnson intentionally violates the Tenure of Office Act when he suspends Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and replaces him
with General Ulysses S. Grant during a congressional recess. The Senate refuses to confirm the action, Grant returns the office
to Stanton, but the President names Gen. Lorenzo Thomas to the post instead. Impeachment proceedings follow in 1868.
Dec 31, 1867
Reconstruction Elections
By the end of 1867, new elections have been held under the Radical Reconstruction plan in every southern state except Texas.
Feb 24, 1868
Houses Impeaches Johnson
The House of Representatives votes to impeach the president. Eleven articles of impeachment are drawn up for the trial, with
the Senate presiding.
Mar 27, 1868
Congress Removes Court Power
Congress removes from the Supreme Court the power to review cases under the Habeas Corpus Act of the previous year
(constitutionally, the legislative branch can determine the jurisdiction of the Court).
May 16, 1868
Johnson Avoids Removal
President Andrew Johnson avoids removal from office by one vote (35-19) in the Senate. He will not get the Democratic
nomination in the upcoming presidential election.
Jun 22, 1868
Arksansas Returns to Union
Arkansas is readmitted to the Union.
Jun 25, 1868
Southern States Readmitted
Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina are readmitted to the Union.
Jul 14, 1868
Alabama Readmitted
Alabama is readmitted to the Union.
Jul 28, 1868
Fourteenth Amendment Ratified
The Fourteenth Amendment is ratified: it revokes the three-fifths compromise in the Constitution and creates a new federal
category of citizenship. It is quite possibly the most important constitutional amendment ever ratified.
Aug 11, 1868
Thaddeus Stevens Dies
Thaddeus Stevens, Radical Republican leader in Congress, dies at age 76.
Sep 1, 1868
Black Officials Ousted
Black elected officials are ousted from the Georgia state legislature; "The Negro is unfit to rule the State," the Atlanta
Constitution declares. The black legislators appeal to President Grant to intervene to get them readmitted, which takes a year.
Sep 28, 1868
Opelousas Massacre
The Opelousas Massacre in Louisiana. An estimated 200 to 300 black Americans are killed.
Nov 3, 1868
Grant Wins
Election of Ulysses S. Grant, Republican, to the presidency.
Apr 1, 1869
Texas v. White
In its 5-3 Texas v. White decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declares Radical Reconstruction constitutional, stating that secession
from the Union is illegal.
Apr 6, 1869
First Black to Haiti
Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett is appointed minister to Haiti—the first black American diplomat and the first black American
presidential appointment. For many years into the future, both Democratic and Republican administrations will follow a
tradition of appointing African-Americans as ministers to Haiti and Liberia.
Sep 24, 1869
Black Friday
Black Friday on the New York gold exchange. Financiers Jay Gould and Jim Fisk attempt to corner the available gold supply,
and try unsuccessfully to involve President Grant in the illegal plan.
Oct 1, 1869
Black Violence Continues
Violence against blacks continues throughout the South; in October, Georgia legislator Abram Colby is kidnapped and
whipped.
Dec 31, 1869
South School Progress
By year's end, the Freedmen's Bureau tallies nearly 3,000 schools, serving over 150,000 students, in the South; the first public
school system in the South outside of North Carolina.
Jan 10, 1870
Dominican Republic Plan
Grant proposes a treaty of annexation with Santo Domingo in an attempt to find land for freed slaves to settle. Under Grant's
plan, freed slaves will be able to relocate to the Caribbean island (the Dominican Republic today). The treaty is opposed by the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, headed by Charles Sumner, and will never be confirmed.
Jan 26, 1870
Virginia Readmitted
Virginia is readmitted to the Union.
Feb 23, 1870
Mississippi Readmitted
Mississippi is readmitted to the Union.
Feb 25, 1870
Hiram Revels First African-American Senator
The first African-American senator—Hiram R. Revels (Republican) of Mississippi —takes office, though he serves only one
year.
Mar 30, 1870
Fifteenth Amendment Ratified
The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified: universal male suffrage is now the law of the land.
Mar 30, 1870
Texas Readmitted
Texas is readmitted to the Union.
Jun 22, 1870
Department of Justice Created
Congress creates the Department of Justice.
Jul 15, 1870
Georgia Readmitted
Georgia is the last former Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union.
Dec 12, 1870
Joseph Rainey First African-American Congressman
Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina takes his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first black congressman.
May 31, 1870
Enforcement Acts
The first of the Enforcement Acts are passed in response to KKK violence.
Apr 1, 1871
Ku Klux Klan Act
Congress passes the Ku Klux Klan Act, a more far-reaching reform than the Enforcement Acts. This is the first time that
specific crimes committed by individuals are deemed punishable by federal law.
Oct 17, 1871
Martial Law Declared in South Carolina
Grant declares martial law in South Carolina; mass arrests follow, and by the following month, prosecutors are indicting Klan
members under the Klan and Enforcement Acts (the testimony of freed slaves is solicited).
May 1, 1872
Liberal Republican Convention
The Liberal Republican Convention meets at Cincinnati. Leaders of the group include many prominent Republicans unhappy
about what they perceive as vindictive Reconstruction policies and corruption in government, which they call Grantism. New
York newspaperman Horace Greeley receives their nomination. Greeley's earlier radicalism, high tariff views, and well-known
eccentricity repel many who oppose Grant. The Democrats, on July 9, also nominate Greeley.
May 22, 1872
Amnesty Act
Grant signs the Amnesty Act, although the final legislation is less generous than he had wanted. Now only a few hundred
former Confederates are excluded from political privileges.
Sep 5, 1872
Credit Mobilier Scandal
The New York Sun charges that Vice President Schuyler Colfax, vice-presidential nominee Henry Wilson, James Garfield, and
other prominent politicians are involved in the operations of the Crédit Mobilier, a corporation established by the promoters of
the Union Pacific railroad to siphon off the profits of transcontinental railroad construction. Ultimately, two congressmen will
be censured for their part in the swindle and many other politicians will be damaged in reputation.
Nov 1, 1872
Grant Reelection
Reelection of Ulysses S. Grant with a landslide victory. Grant invites black people to the inaugural ball for the first time in
American history.
Dec 9, 1872
First Black Governor
P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first black man to serve as an acting state governor in Louisiana, for one month (until 13
January 1873). He assumes the office upon the impeachment and removal of predecessor Henry Clay Warmouth, for corruption.
Due to white resistance, his tenure is extremely short.
Sep 18, 1873
Panic of 1870
Financial panic and depression follow the failure of the Philadelphia investment house owned by Jay Cooke, who had helped
finance the Union war effort by selling federal bonds to farmers and workers. Of the country's 364 railroads, 89 will go
bankrupt. Some 18,000 businesses will fail in the next two years.
Jun 1, 1874
Freedmen Bank Fails
The Freedmen's Savings Bank fails, with only $31,000 to reimburse its 61,000 remaining depositors. The average loss is $20
per customer.
Oct 1, 1875
United States v. Cruikshank
In the United States v. Cruikshank: the Supreme Court asserts that, Fifteenth Amendment notwithstanding, the Constitution "has
not conferred the right of suffrage upon anyone." The decision emphasizes that the right to vote in the U.S. comes from the
states, though "the right of exemption from the prohibited discrimination" comes from the federal government. This decision
echoes Minor v. Happersett, which is passed the same year.
May 10, 1875
Whisky Ring Scandal
The Whisky Ring scandal is exposed; a group of public officials and liquor distillers have defrauded the federal government of
millions by bribing liquor tax collectors. Orville E. Babcock, Grant's private secretary, was involved in the scandal and only
acquitted through the personal intervention of the president.
Nov 1, 1875
Mississippi Democrats Win
Mississippi election returns Democrats to power
Mar 3, 1875
Bruce Takes Seat
The first African-American to serve a full six-year term as senator, Blanche Kelso Bruce (Republican) of Mississippi takes his
seat in the United States Senate. Not until 1969 would another black American begin a Senate term.
Mar 4, 1875
Johnson Serves in Senate
Andrew Johnson becomes the first and only former president to serve in the Senate.
Sep 4, 1875
Clinton Massacre
More than twenty black Americans are killed in a massacre in Clinton, Mississippi.
Jun 1, 1875
South Carolina Riots
A summer of race riots and terrorism directed at blacks commences in South Carolina. President Grant sends federal troops to
restore order.
Jan 1, 1876
High Unemployment
Unemployment has risen to 14%.
Nov 1, 1876
Election Too Close
In the presidential election, the outcome in the Electoral College appears too close to be conclusive in the campaign of Samuel
Tilden (Democrat) versus Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican).
Mar 2, 1877
Hayes Wins Election but Loses Popular Vote
RANGEEND_RADICAL_RECONSTRUCTION Republican Rutherford B. Hayes is declared the winner of the 1876
presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden won the popular vote.
Sep 18, 1873
Reconstruction Ends, ‘Redemption’ Begins
Almost immediately after taking office, Hayes withdraws the federal troops from the South (the last states remaining under
Reconstruction are Louisiana and South Carolina). The last Radical state governments collapse and the Redemption Period
begins.
Reconstruction People/Who Made It Happen
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was the sixteenth president of the United States during one of the most consequential periods in
American history, the Civil War. Before being elected president, Lincoln...
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) became America's seventeenth president in April 1865, upon the death of Abraham Lincoln.
Though most people recognize that Congress fabricated the charges against him, Jo...
Oliver O. Howard
Oliver O. Howard (1830-1909) served as chief commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau (formally established as the Bureau of
Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands) at the request of President Johnson...
Hiram Revels
Hiram Revels (1822-1901) was the first black citizen to be elected to the U.S. Senate. Born to free parents in Fayetteville, North
Carolina, Revels had to go to Indiana and Illinois to obtain an ed...
Blanche K. Bruce
Blanche K. Bruce (1841-1898) was a black senator representing Mississippi during Reconutruction, becoming the first AfricanAmerican politician ever to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate (1875-18...
Pinckney B.S. Pinchback
Pinckney B.S. Pinchback (1837-1921) was the first black governor in the United States, serving as chief executive of Louisiana
in 1872 and '73. There would not be another black governor of any Amer...
Thaddeus Stevens
Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) was the most famous Radical Republican in the House of Representatives (1849-53, 1859-68).
Together with Charles Sumner in the Senate, the Pennsylvania native opposed P...
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner (1811-74), a Senator from Massachusetts for more than twenty years (1851-74), was the leader of the Radical
Republicans in the Senate and a lifelong proponent of social equality for...
William T. Sherman
William T. Sherman (1820-1891) was a Union general in the American Civil War and one of the greatest of the Civil War
generals. His middle name was Tecumseh, for the famous Shawnee chief.Prior to t...
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) served as commander in chief of the Union army during the Civil War, leading the North to
victory over the Confederacy. Grant later became the eighteenth President of t...
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (c.1817-1895), born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, was a runaway slave, a supporter of women's
rights, and probably the most prominent abolitionist and human rights leader...
Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) was co-leader of the American suffrage movement along with her good friend and colleague,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She was also an advocate for abolition and t...
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) was co-leader of the American suffrage movement along with her good friend and
colleague, Susan B. Anthony. Stanton was the more talented orator, while Anthony wa...
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) was the first and only president of the Confederate States of America. After a distinguished career
in national politics as Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce, Davis...
Alexander H. Stephens
Alexander Stephens (1812-1883) was a politician who served in the Georgia legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives
before the American Civil War. Throughout his career, Stephens defended s...
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley (1811-1872) was a prominent American newspaper editor and founder of the New York Tribune. He was the
first (and last) presidential candidate of the short-lived Liberal Republican pa...
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) was the nineteenth president of the United States, from 1877-1881. His controversial and
extremely close election became known as the Compromise of 1877, or alternat...
Samuel J. Tilden
Samuel J. Tilden (1814-1886), a New York Democrat, ran against Republican Rutherford B. Hayes for the presidency in 1876
and won the popular vote by a very small margin. He was denied the office af...
Lyman Trumbull
Lyman Trumbull (1813-1896) was a Republican Senator (originally a Democrat) from Illinois who helped lead the Liberal
Republican Party in 1872. He then returned to being a Democrat.Trumbull avidly...
Albion W. Tourgée
Albion W. Tourgée (1838-1905) waged a courageous battle against the Ku Klux Klan during his term as a North Carolina judge
during Reconstruction. In his judicial district, located in the centr...