1862 | 1863 | 1864 | 1865 | 1866 | 1867 | 1868 | 1869 | 1870 | 1871 | 1876 | 1877
1862
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Union troops win the Battle of New Bern in March. Thousands African Americans seek freedom behind Union lines in New Bern.
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Vincent Colyer sets up night schools for freed people.
1863
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Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation.
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Recruitment of African American soldiers begins.
1864
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Abraham Galloway and four others visit Abraham Lincoln.
1865
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The Thirteenth Amendment, which abolishes slavery in the United States, is approved in January and ratified in December. Congress establishes the Freedmen's Bureau in March.
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The Civil War effectively ends with Lee's surrender at Appomattox on April 9.
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President Lincoln is assassinated on April 15. Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes president.
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President Johnson presents plans for Reconstruction.
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Freedmen's Convention takes place in Raleigh on September 29.
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North Carolina holds a constitutional convention on October 2.
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Congress refuses to readmit North Carolina in December.
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States enact Black Codes.
1866
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The Ku Klux Klan is created in Tennessee.
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Congress approves the Fourteenth Amendment.
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North Carolina refuses to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment.
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Radical Republicans gain control in Congress.
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Congress expands the Freedmen's Bureau's responsibilities and powers.
1867
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The Reconstruction Acts are passed over Johnson's veto, initiating Congressional Reconstruction.
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The Union League and Abraham Lincoln League become active recruiting black voters in Craven County.
1868
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The Fourteenth Amendment is ratified, entitling all persons born or naturalized in the United States to citizenship and equal protection under the laws of the United States.
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North Carolina is readmitted to the Union.
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Andrew Johnson is impeached by Congress, but is acquitted by one vote.
1869
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Former Union General Ulysses S. Grant becomes president.
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The Freedman's Bureau leaves North Carolina.
1870
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Hiram Revels of Mississippi (born in Fayetteville, North Carolina) is the first African American elected to the United States Senate.
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The Fifteenth Amendment is ratified, granting the right to vote to all male citizens regardless of color or previous condition of servitude.
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Three African American representatives from Craven County are elected to the General Assembly.
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Conservative government is reestablished in North Carolina, "redeeming" the state.
1871
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Governor William Holden publishes a list of crimes committed by the Ku Klux Klan.
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Act to Enforce Fourteenth Amendment (Ku Klux Klan Act) is passed in Congress.
1876
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Democrat Zebulon Vance is elected Governor of North Carolina.
1877
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The last federal troops leave South Carolina, effectively ending the Federal government's presence in the South.
Source Citation:
Exhibit Text, Claiming Citizenship: Political Activism,Days of Jubilee,Tryon Palace, New Bern, N.C.