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1865
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13th Amendment abolishes slavery in
Union
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Robert E. Lee surrenders Confederate forces
to Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia
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Abraham Lincoln assassinated; Vice
President Andrew Johnson becomes 17th
president
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Johnson announces moderate restoration plan to bring South back into
Union; issues pardons to most Confederates, requires states to ratify 13th
Amendment
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Mississippi establishes system of black
codes, limiting rights of freed blacks; codes become common
throughout Reconstruction-era South
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Freedmen’s Bureau established to help freed
blacks find homes and jobs
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1866
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Civil Rights Act of 1866 grants citizenship
to all people born in the United States, grants freed slaves right to own
private property, sue, serve as witnesses
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Congress passes 14th Amendment to enforce
constitutionality of Civil Rights Act of 1866; most Southern states reject
it, and it is not ratified until 1868
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White supremacist group Ku Klux Klan founded
in Tennessee; operates throughout South by 1868
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1867
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Congress passes Military Reconstruction Acts, dividing
former Confederacy into five military districts; each Southern
state forced to create new government and state constitution before applying
for readmission to Union
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Nebraska admitted to Union as 37th
state
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Tenure of Office Act requires president to
get congressional approval before removing any appointees from
office
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United States purchases Alaska from Russia
under direction of Secretary of State William H.
Seward; critics deride purchase as “Seward’s Folly”
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1868
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Johnson intentionally violates Tenure of Office Act by firing
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, provoking anger in Congress;
is impeached in House but acquitted in
Senate
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Ulysses S. Grant elected 18th
president
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First railroad pass completed through High
Sierras in California
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Eight-hour workday becomes law for federal
employees
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1869
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First transcontinental railroad completed at
Promontory Point, Utah
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James Fisk and Jay Gould make unsuccessful attempt to corner U.S.
gold market, leading to widespread financial
panic
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Wyoming grants women’s suffrage
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1870
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15th Amendment protects voting rights for
black males
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Grant proposes annexation of Dominican Republic, but Senate
rejects
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Last Southern states readmitted to Congress
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Hiram Rhoades Revels of Mississippi becomes
first black senator, assuming seat formerly held by Jefferson
Davis
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Enforcement Act allows for federal
intervention against Ku Klux Klan activity
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White v. Flood ruling in California court
establishes precedent for racial segregation in schools
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Union Pacific Railroad hires influx of Chinese
workers at lower pay rates than those commanded by workers of
European descent
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1871
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Indian Appropriations Act labels all Native
Americans wards of U.S. government |
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| |
Anti-Chinese riot in Los Angeles results in more than 20
deaths |
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New York Times exposes corrupt New York City political machine run
by William Marcy “Boss” Tweed
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Great Chicago Fire causes extensive damage to
city, over 300 deaths
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Supreme Court upholds constitutionality of federally-issued paper
money known as the greenback
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1872
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Grant reelected president
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Amnesty Act returns voting rights to most
ex-Confederates; signals beginning of end of Reconstruction
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Congress establishes Yellowstone National
Park in Wyoming as first national park
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1873
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Slaughterhouse Cases acknowledge authority of
state governments over individuals; effectively limit application of 14th
Amendment to former slaves
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| |
Panic of 1873 hits United States, caused by
rampant railroad speculation; 25% of nation’s
railroads shut down
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1874
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Mennonite immigrants from Russia
revolutionize wheat cultivation in Kansas
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Police on horseback beat scores of unemployed demonstrators
in Tompkins Square Riot in New York
City
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1875
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Several of Grant’s associates indicted in Whiskey Ring
scandal
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Civil Rights Act of 1875 enacts penalties for
racial discrimination at inns, in theaters, on public transit, in other
public places; prevents discrimination in employment; establishes right of
African Americans to serve on juries
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1876
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Federal authorities order Lakota Sioux to
reservations
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Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse lead Sioux
resistance to crushing defeat of Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s forces
at Battle of Little Bighorn in
Montana
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Alexander Graham Bell invents
the telephone
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Colorado admitted to Union as 38th
state
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Rutherford B. Hayes elected 19th president in
contested race against Samuel J. Tilden; Tilden wins popular vote, but
electoral count proves inconclusive
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Mark Twain publishes novel The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer
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1877
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Hayes-Tilden Compromise awards Hayes
presidency in exchange for removal of federal troops from Southern states,
effectively ending Reconstruction
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| |
Munn v. Illinois ruling states that private
industries affecting the public interest are subject to state and federal
government regulation
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Widespread anti-Chinese riots take place in San Francisco
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U.S. government ignores Nez Percé ancestral
land claim in Idaho, forcibly removes tribe to Kansas
reservation
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Desert Land Act gives settlers affordable
land deals in exchange for self-irrigation
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