A Timeline of Reconstruction: 1865-1877

1865

Thirteenth Amendment approved in January. Ratified in December. Abolished slavery in the United States.

Congress establishes Freedmen's Bureau in March to provide assistance to the emancipated slaves.

Assassination of President Lincoln, April 15. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes president.

End of the Civil War (April 9, 1965). Lee surrenders to Grant.

President Johnson presents plans for Reconstruction.

Benjamin Butler, notorious Union General in the Civil War and advocate of rights for African Americans, elected to Congress as a radical member of the Republican party.

Mississippi enacts Black Code.

Joint Committee of Fifteen on Reconstruction created.

Ku Klux Klan created in Tennessee.

1866

Civil Rights Act passed despite Johnson's earlier veto.

Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution approved by Congress.

Memphis race riot/Massacre (May 1).

Freedmen's Bureau responsibilities and powers expanded by Congress. Legislation is vetoed by Johnson but Congress overrides his veto.

New Orleans Race Riot/Massacre (July 30).