A Timeline of Reconstruction: 1863-1877
1863
Lincoln announces preliminary plan for Amnesty and Reconstruction (10-Percent Plan)
1864
Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas readmitted to the Union under Lincoln Plan. Congress refuses to seat representatives from those states.
Congress passes Wade-Davis Bill, which is then pocket-vetoed by Lincoln.
1865
Thirteenth Amendment approved in January. Ratified in December. Abolishes slavery in the United States.
Congress establishes Freedmen's Bureau in March to provide assistance to emancipated slaves.
End of the Civil War (April 9, 1965). Lee surrenders to Grant.
President Lincoln assassinated on April 15. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes president.
President Johnson presents plans Reconstruction (Restoration).
Johnson tries to readmit rest of Confederates states to Union.
Mississippi enacts Black Code. Other Southern states soon follow.
Congress reconvenes (December), refuses to admit Southern representatives, and creates Joint Committee of Fifteen on Reconstruction.
1866
Ku Klux Klan created in Tennessee, spreads as a paramilitary force to other Southern states.
Civil Rights Act passed over Johnson's veto.
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution approved by Congress; most southern states reject it.
Freedmen's Bureau responsibilities and powers expanded by Congress. Johnson vetoes Legislation but Congress overrides his veto.
Republicans gain in congressional elections.
1867
Reconstruction Acts passed over Johnson's veto. Period of Radical or congressional Reconstruction begins.
Tenure of Office Act passed.
Southern states establish Reconstruction governments under congressional plan.
Republican convention meets in New Orleans. Party platform includes equality for African-Americans.
1868
Most Southern states readmitted to Union under congressional plan.
Fourteenth Amendment ratified, entitling all persons born or naturalized in the United States to citizenship and equal protection under the laws of the United States.
Andrew Johnson impeached but not convicted.
1869
Ulysses S. Grant becomes president. Although allied with the Radical Republicans in Congress he does not provide strong leadership for Reconstruction.
First “redeemer” governments elected in South (Georgia and Virginia).
1870
Last Southern states readmitted to Union.
Hiram Revels elected to U. S. Senate as the first black senator.
Fifteenth Amendment ratified. Gives vote to all male citizens regardless of color or previous condition of servitude.
Joseph H. Rainey, first black member sworn in as member of U. S. House of Representatives. December 12, 1870.
1870-71
Enforcement Acts including Ku Klux Klan Act passed.
1872
Liberal Republicans defect.
Grant reelected president.
Freedmen's Bureau abolished.
1874
Alabama and Arkansas “redeemed.”
Democrats achieve majority in House of Representatives for first time since 1856.
1875
March 1--Civil Rights Act enacted by Congress. It provides blacks with the right to equal treatment in places and transportation. The Supreme Court later declared this
Act unconstitutional.
Mississippi “redeemed.”
1876
Wade Hampton inaugurated as governor of South Carolina. The election of Hampton, a leader in the Confederacy, confirms fears that the South is not committed to
Reconstruction.
1877
Electoral Commission selects Rutherford B. Hayes as president in Compromise of 1877.
Last federal troops leave South Carolina effectively ending the Federal government's presence in the South.
Last of Southern states “redeemed.”