Reconstruction Timeline

  • Robert E. Lee Surrenders

    Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House
  • Reconstruction of America

    Abraham Lincoln calls for a reconstruction of the country.
  • First act of terror by Southern Insurgency

    John Wilkes Boothe assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater as the American Civil War was drawing to a close.
  • Slavery Abolished in the United States

    13th Amendment ratified. Black Codes was also enacted, (laws imposed in the southern states to restrict the rights of African Americans)
  • Ku Klux Klan Begins

    The Klan is the first of many secret terrorist organizations organized in the South for the purpose of reestablishing white authority.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1866

    African Americans were granted citizenship, and were insured equal rights.
  • The former Union general becomes the 18th president

    Ulysses S. Grant elected president
  • First black senator elected.

    Hiram Revels of Mississippi elected to U. S. Senate as the first black senator.
  • 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.
  • 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).