| Reuniting the Union: A Chronology | |
| 1863 |
|
| December
1863: The 10 Percent Plan |
President
Lincoln announces a plan for reconstructing those Confederate states
already under Union control. He offered 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 could be reorganized. Finally, it specifies that anyone who wanted to vote in a constitutional convention in a former Confederate state must swear that he had 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. |
| April 4, 1865: Lincoln's Assassination |
Lincoln's
assassination makes Vice President Andrew Johnson president. |
| 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 debts. |
| November 1865: Black Codes |
Beginning
with Mississippi, the ex-Confederate states adopt "Black Codes," legal
codes that codes 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, could 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 (which 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 denied suffrage. President Johnson urges southern legislatures to reject the amendment. |
| Summer
1866: Whites Riot in Memphis and New Orleans |
Rioting in
Memphis, Tenn., and New Orleans, La., 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 |
|
| Impeachment
of President Johnson |
To prevent
the president from obstructing its reconstruction program, Congress
passes several laws restricting presidential powers. These included
legislation preventing him from appointing Supreme Court justices and
restricting his authority over the army. The Tenure of Office Act bars
him from removing officeholders, appointed with the advice and consent
of the Senate, without Senate approval. 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. |
| September
1868: Georgia Expels Blacks from Its State Legislature |
In June
1868, six former Confederate states--Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina--were readmitted to the
Union. In September, Georgia expels blacks from its state legislature,
prompting Congress to re-impose military rule in the state. |
| 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 permitted 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. |
| 1870-71 |
|
| 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
organization and to enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments, Congress
passes the Force Act and 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. |
| 1876-77 |
|
| 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 promises federal aid for southern
railroad construction and flood control along the Mississippi River. |