The A Brief Timeline of the Reconstruction Era

Written By Saleana Copeland

The Reconstruction Period was a transformative time for United States history and its relationship to Black American progress. Taking place roughly between the years 1865 to 1877, this period was marked by the transition of Black Americans from the status of the enslaved to their precarious position as United States citizens. Before the era of Reconstruction, the lives of Black Americans were marked by enslavement, and then the trials of the Civil War. During the Reconstruction era many Black Americans gained a variety of political rights and social mobility. However, the prosperity of Black politics and civil rights would be met with aggressive pushback from the former Confederates of the south and their advocates within the Democratic party. These forces, along with sympathetic white Republicans seeking to unify the US as quickly as possible were the ultimate downfall for Reconstruction efforts.

Reconstruction Era Timeline (1865 - 1877)

1865

  • March 3rd: The Freedmen's Bureau is established.

  • December 6th: 13th Amendment is ratified; Black Codes enacted.

1866

  • April 9th: Civil Rights Act of 1866.

  • July 30th: Klu Klux Klan is founded (Pulaski, Tennessee).

1867

  • The Reconstruction Acts.

1868

  • July 21st: 14th Amendment ratified.

1869

  • April 12th: The Supreme Court acknowledges secession from the United States illegal and deems Radical Reconstruction as constitutional. 

  • Freedmen’s Bureau established almost 3,000 schools in the South. 

1870

  • February 23rd: First Black Senator is Elected (Senator Hiram Revels, MS).

  • March 30: 15th Amendment is ratified. 

1871

  • The First Black Senators and State Representatives serve in the 42nd US Congress.

    • Sen. Revels (MS), Rep. DeLarge (SC), Rep. Long (GA), Rep. Walls (FL), Rep. Turner (AL), Rep. Rainey (SC), and Rep. Elliot (SC).

  • October: Congress hears testimony from victims of Klu Klux Klan violence. 

1872

  • The Freedmen's Bureau is abolished.

1874

  • Democrats control the 43rd Congress.

1875

  • March 1st: Civil Rights Act of 1875 enacted by Congress.

1876

  • A tumultuous and disputed election of President Hayes comes as a result of a covert deal between the Republican Democrat political parties. The Republicans agree to relinquish Reconstruction efforts for the presidency. 

1877

  • Reconstruction ends as President Grant removes US troops from the American South. 

Saleana Copeland
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