Module Fourteen: Stay Together for the Kids

(1863 CE - 1870 CE)

Professor Ryan Lancaster

Ten Percent Plan�(1863 CE)

• On December 8, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Ten Percent Plan to guide Confederate states' Reconstruction during the Civil War.
• By late 1863, Union gains in the South led Lincoln to propose a reintegration framework.
• States could rejoin the Union when 10% of 1860 voters swore loyalty and accepted emancipation.
• These voters could then elect representatives to draft new state constitutions and governments.

Ten Percent Plan�(1863 CE)

• Lincoln offered amnesty to most Southerners, excluding top Confederate leaders, while protecting private property (except enslaved people).
• By 1864, Unionist governments formed in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas under Lincoln’s plan.
• The Ten Percent Plan aimed to hasten the war's end, weaken the Confederacy, and support emancipation.
• Moderate Republicans supported the plan as a step toward peace and unity.

Ten Percent Plan�(1863 CE)

• Some Republicans worried it might restore the planter elite and weaken freedmen’s rights.
• Radical Republicans called it too lenient, pushing for harsher measures and civil rights guarantees.
• In 1864, Radical Republicans proposed the stricter Wade-Davis Bill, requiring majority loyalty oaths.
• Lincoln’s pocket veto of the Wade-Davis Bill highlighted executive-Congress tensions over Reconstruction.

Detroit Race Riot�(1863 CE)

• The Detroit race riot erupted on March 6, 1863, fueled by racial tensions, working-class unrest, and the Civil War draft, worsened by the Emancipation Proclamation.
• Irish and German immigrants, angry at being drafted, resented fighting for enslaved Black people, intensifying racial hostility.
• The riot left two dead, one Black and one white, with many African Americans severely beaten.
• Over 35 buildings burned, others damaged, and Black residents suffered property losses from looting and theft.

Detroit Race Riot�(1863 CE)

• More than 200 people, mostly Black, were left homeless, with financial damages estimated at $15,000–$20,000.
• Detroit’s growing Black community, central to the Underground Railroad and close to Canada, faced rising racial tensions.
• The Democratic-led City Council and Detroit Free Press fueled anti-Black sentiment, linking Black residents to crime and labor issues.
• The new Enrollment Act angered Irish immigrants, who feared job competition from freed slaves and saw the war as favoring the rich.

Detroit Race Riot�(1863 CE)

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• The riot began after Thomas Faulkner, a mixed-race man accused of molestation, was portrayed as Black, inciting violence.
• Mobs burned Black-owned businesses, killed Joshua Boyd, and forced Black families to flee to Canada.
• Order was restored by troops, but the city refused to compensate victims, leaving the Black community devastated.
• Detroit’s first full-time police force emerged, but the lack of prosecutions and reparations left lasting wounds.

Wade Davis Bill�(1864 CE)

• The Wade–Davis Bill (1864) proposed strict terms for Southern Reconstruction, requiring republican governments in states overthrown during the Civil War.
• It opposed Lincoln's lenient ten percent plan, demanding a majority of voters take the Ironclad Oath, swearing no support for the Confederacy.
• Drafted by Radical Republicans Wade and Davis, the bill asserted federal authority to guarantee republican governance.
• Passed by Congress on July 2, 1864, the bill was pocket-vetoed by Lincoln, favoring a more conciliatory approach to reunification.

Wade Davis Bill�(1864 CE)

• Lincoln opposed the bill's harsh terms, fearing it would hinder reintegration of Confederate states.
• Critics argued its demands were unrealistic, risking prolonged federal control over the South.
• Lincoln believed Confederate states had never legally seceded and sought to address rebellion without redefining statehood.
• The bill implied Confederate states were out of the Union, requiring new Constitutions to ban slavery, complicating war aims.

Wade Davis Bill�(1864 CE)

• Lincoln feared its enforcement would stall reconstruction in states like Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee.
• The divide between Lincoln and Radical Republicans reflected differing priorities: reconciliation vs. punishment.
• After Lincoln's death, Radical Republicans imposed harsher measures through the Reconstruction Acts.
• Though the bill faded, it paved the way for Congressional Reconstruction, military oversight, and black enfranchisement in the South.

Sand Creek Massacre�(1864 CE)

• On November 29, 1864, Colonel John Chivington’s Third Colorado Cavalry attacked a Cheyenne and Arapaho village in southeastern Colorado, known as the Sand Creek Massacre.
• By late 1863, reports of plains tribes forming a coalition to expel settlers heightened regional tensions.
• In spring and summer 1864, Sioux, Comanche, Kiowa, Cheyenne, and Arapaho raids killed civilians, destroyed property, and disrupted supply lines.
• On April 13, 1864, a Cheyenne and Arapaho raid near Denver led to livestock theft and the deaths of soldiers sent to recover the animals.

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Sand Creek Massacre�(1864 CE)

• At dawn, Chivington’s 675 volunteer soldiers attacked the village with rifles and howitzers, forcing residents to flee.
• Noncombatant women, children, and elderly sought refuge in Sand Creek’s dry streambed but were pursued and killed.
• Defensive trenches and pits were dismantled by relentless fire from soldiers on both banks, supported by howitzers.
• Some men resisted with salvaged weapons but were overwhelmed by the militia’s superior firepower.

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Sand Creek Massacre�(1864 CE)

• Over eight hours, soldiers killed about 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho, mostly women, children, and elderly.
• Afterward, soldiers mutilated corpses, scalped victims, and took body parts, including genitalia, as trophies.
• These "souvenirs" were displayed in Denver theaters and saloons, celebrated by the local community.
• A local newspaper hailed the massacre as a "brilliant feat of arms," ignoring the horrific brutality.

Chinese Workers�(1864 CE)

• Chinese immigrants began arriving in the U.S. during the Gold Rush, later becoming a crucial labor force for building the railroad east from California despite initial doubts about their strength.
• Due to a shortage of white laborers, Central Pacific Railroad director Charles Crocker proposed hiring Chinese workers after a poor response to job ads.
• Crocker’s plan faced resistance due to anti-Chinese sentiment, with many doubting Chinese workers could handle the demanding work.
• James Strobridge, the construction superintendent, initially doubted Chinese workers’ ability to endure the strenuous labor.

Chinese Workers�(1864 CE)

• Despite opposition, the railroad faced a labor shortage as white workers failed to enlist in sufficient numbers.
• Crocker’s Chinese manservant may have first suggested hiring Chinese workers, a plan initially resisted due to racial prejudice but later accepted due to labor needs.
• In January 1864, the Central Pacific Railroad hired its first Chinese workers, starting with 21 laborers.
• By January 1865, the number of Chinese workers grew to meet labor demands, with 50 more hired.

Chinese Workers�(1864 CE)

• The railroad relied on Chinese workers as demand for labor increased, while white workers remained reluctant to take on the challenging tasks.
• Leland Stanford testified in 1865 that without Chinese workers, completing the western section of the railroad on time would have been impossible.
• Irish workers dominated the Union Pacific workforce, with limited participation in the Central Pacific project until after the railroad's completion, filling both skilled and unskilled roles.
• Chinese workers were underpaid, faced harsh conditions, and suffered abuse, with a 1867 strike leading to some improvements in their working conditions.

Freedmen's Bureau�1865 CE)

• The Freedmen's Bureau was established in March 1865 to aid freed Black people and poor whites in the South post-Civil War, providing food, housing, medical aid, education, and legal assistance.
• The Bureau struggled with limited funds, personnel, and resistance from racial and political tensions during Reconstruction, impacting its effectiveness.
• Created just before Lee's surrender, the Bureau was meant to be temporary, lasting until the war's end and one year after, staffed by Civil War soldiers under the War Department.
• Reconstruction faced the challenge of integrating 4 million freed slaves into a free-labor society, with no precedent for handling such a large refugee population.

Freedmen's Bureau�1865 CE)

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• White Southerners and President Johnson opposed the Bureau, criticizing its expanded powers and role in civil rights.
• In 1866, Johnson vetoed an extension bill, citing concerns about states' rights and preferential treatment, but Congress overrode it.
• Johnson's pro-South policies, including pardoning Confederates and undermining Bureau staff, weakened its authority.
• Internal disagreements over the Bureau’s scope and strategy complicated its mission.

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Freedmen's Bureau�1865 CE)

• The Bureau operated in 11 former Confederate states, border states, and D.C., with varied regional effectiveness.
• Despite being understaffed, the Bureau provided food, medical aid, labor contracts, and helped with legalizing marriages and reuniting families.
• It helped establish thousands of schools for Black students and contributed to founding institutions like Howard University.
• Land redistribution failed as Confederate land was returned to original owners, limiting Black Americans' land ownership opportunities.
• The Bureau was dismantled in 1872 under pressure from white Southerners. Its legacy remains debated but marked a significant federal involvement in social welfare and labor relations for marginalized groups.

Lincoln Assassination�(1865 CE)

• On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer, assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, just days after the Civil War ended.
• The assassination occurred five days after General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, marking the Civil War’s end.
• Booth, born in 1838 into a prominent acting family, became famous after debuting in Richard III in 1855.
• Despite his Confederate leanings, Booth remained in the North, building a successful stage career during the war.

Lincoln Assassination�(1865 CE)

• In early 1865, Booth and co-conspirators planned to kidnap Lincoln but abandoned it after a failed attempt on March 20.
• Following the fall of Richmond and Lee's surrender, Booth shifted his focus to assassination.
• On April 14, 1865, Booth, learning of Lincoln’s attendance at Our American Cousin, shot him, targeting chaos by also planning to kill Vice President Johnson and Secretary of State Seward.
• During the play, Booth shot Lincoln in the back of the head. He stabbed Rathbone, then jumped to the stage, shouting “Sic Semper tyrannis!” before fleeing despite breaking his leg.

Lincoln Assassination�(1865 CE)

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• Dr. Charles Leale, a physician in the audience, attended to Lincoln, who was paralyzed and struggling to breathe. He was carried to a nearby boardinghouse.
• Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865, with Andrew Johnson and others at his side.
• Lincoln’s body was transported to Springfield, Illinois, for burial on May 4, 1865, after mourners paid their respects.
• Booth and accomplice David Herold evaded capture until Booth was killed on April 26, 1865, after a standoff in Virginia.

Wild Bill Hickok�(1865 CE)

• James "Wild Bill" Hickok was a legendary figure of the American Old West, known as a soldier, scout, lawman, gambler, and showman, famous for iconic gunfights.
• Many of Hickok's exploits were likely exaggerated or fabricated, fueled by his own embellishments and the mythmaking culture of the time.
• At 18, Hickok left home as a fugitive, heading west where he worked as a stagecoach driver and became a lawman in Kansas and Nebraska.
• During the Civil War, Hickok served as a Union soldier and scout, earning a reputation as a skilled marksman, later expanding his fame through acting and professional gambling.

Wild Bill Hickok�(1865 CE)

• Hickok's life was marked by notorious shootouts, blending historical events with Old West folklore.
• A key event was his 1865 duel with gambler Davis Tutt in Springfield, Missouri, over a gold watch and women, marking the first recorded quick-draw duel.
• On July 21, 1865, Hickok shot Tutt through the heart from 75 yards after a tense standoff, with Tutt dying instantly.
• On August 1, 1876, while playing poker in Deadwood, Hickok was shot in the back of the head by a drunken Jack McCall, who was insulted after losing money to him.

Wild Bill Hickok�(1865 CE)

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• Hickok may have predicted his death in Deadwood, possibly sharing his fatalistic thoughts with friends like Charlie Utter.
• When he died, Hickok held a poker hand of two black aces and two black eights, later known as the "dead man's hand."
• Debate persists over the exact composition of the "dead man's hand," particularly the suit of the aces and the identity of the fifth card.

Ku Klux Klan�(1865 CE)

• Founded in 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee, the Ku Klux Klan quickly spread across the South by 1870, opposing Reconstruction policies aimed at Black Americans' equality.
• The Klan waged a violent campaign against Black and white Republican leaders to undermine Reconstruction, becoming infamous for its brutality.
• Despite anti-Klan laws, the Klan’s goal of white supremacy was largely achieved as Democrats regained control of Southern states in the 1870s.
• Created by former Confederate veterans as a social club, the Klan’s main goal was to resist Black Americans' political empowerment after the Civil War.

Ku Klux Klan�(1865 CE)

• .The name "Ku Klux Klan" derives from the Greek "kyklos," meaning "circle," reflecting its secretive, tight-knit formation.
• In 1867, the Klan formalized as the "Invisible Empire of the South," led by Nathan Bedford Forrest as "Grand Wizard."
• The Klan emerged during the second phase of Reconstruction, following the Reconstruction Act and the 14th Amendment’s implementation.
• The rise of Black Americans in Southern politics, including elected officials, fueled the Klan’s violent opposition.

Ku Klux Klan�(1865 CE)

• The Klan’s tactics included assassinations, threats, and intimidation to undermine Republican efforts and restore white supremacy.
• Over 10% of Black legislators were victims of Klan violence, including seven murders, to prevent Black political influence.
• The Klan targeted "carpetbaggers" (northern Republicans), "scalawags" (southern white Republicans), and Black institutions like schools and churches.
• Though widespread, the Klan lacked strong leadership, with local chapters acting independently, particularly in states like South Carolina, where violence peaked by 1871.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

• The Civil Rights Act of 1866 defined citizenship and guaranteed equal protection under the law, regardless of race or servitude status.
• Passed by Congress in 1866, the bill was vetoed twice by President Andrew Johnson, who opposed African American rights provisions.
• In April 1866, Congress reintroduced the bill, reinforcing the Thirteenth Amendment, but Johnson vetoed it again.
• Despite the veto, Congress overrode it with a two-thirds majority, making the Act law without Johnson’s signature.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

• John Bingham and others questioned Congress's power to pass the law, seeking constitutional backing.
• The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) provided constitutional support, confirming the Civil Rights Act’s provisions and ensuring its ratification in 1870.
• The Act aimed to define citizenship, establish citizen rights, and outlaw racial discrimination.
• Senator Lyman Trumbull, who drafted the Act, pushed for its passage to secure civil rights protections.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

• On April 5, 1866, Congress overrode Johnson’s veto for the first time on major legislation.
• Trumbull argued the Act was supported by the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing the "badge of servitude."
• After the Act’s passage, some lawmakers backed the Fourteenth Amendment to ensure its constitutionality.
• The 1868 ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment solidified the Civil Rights Act, which was later reenacted in the Enforcement Act of 1870.

Black Codes

• The Black Codes were laws aimed at controlling African Americans after the Civil War, limiting their freedom and imposing forced labor through legal restrictions.
• Though present before the war, Southern states passed harsher Black Codes in 1865-66 to maintain control over freed African Americans.
• Post-war, Southern legislatures modeled Black Codes after pre-war slave codes to subjugate freed African Americans under restrictive laws resembling slavery.
• The Black Codes were part of a broader Southern strategy to preserve political and economic control, keeping African Americans in low-wage, restricted freedom conditions.

Black Codes

• The Black Codes focused on controlling African American labor and movement to maintain the Southern agricultural economy under a free labor system akin to slavery.
• Though freed, African Americans faced severe restrictions under the Black Codes, limiting property ownership, travel, and personal freedoms.
• A key feature of the Black Codes was vagrancy laws, allowing arrests for minor infractions, leading to forced labor, or "slavery by another name."
• The U.S. Army helped enforce the Black Codes, aiding Southern authorities in regulating African Americans' behavior under post-war legal restrictions.

Black Codes

• Despite the Freedmen’s Bureau’s mission to protect African Americans, it often supported labor roles on plantations, aiding Southern economic reconstruction.
• The Freedmen’s Bureau frequently collaborated with Southern authorities to arrest "vagrants" and force labor, deepening the system of subjugation.
• Twenty-one states implemented Jim Crow laws, restricting interracial marriages and further limiting African American rights after the Civil War.
• Facing a labor shortage, white planters enacted laws like convict leasing, increasing arrests and forced labor, while delaying state prison construction until the late 19th century.

Reconstruction Acts�(1867 CE)

• The Reconstruction Acts, passed in 1867 by the 40th Congress, set conditions for Southern states' readmission to the Union after the Civil War.
• The first Act, "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the Rebel States," was passed on March 4, 1867, starting Congressional Reconstruction.
• The Acts required former Confederate states to reenter the Union under military and federal supervision due to the Confederacy's defeat.
• Tennessee was excluded, having ratified the 14th Amendment and rejoined the Union in 1866.

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Reconstruction Acts�(1867 CE)

• After Lincoln's assassination, President Andrew Johnson, initially supported by Radical Republicans, pursued a lenient policy, allowing Black Codes and former Confederates in Congress.
• Johnson's goal of completing Reconstruction by December 1865 failed, and the Union Army enforced policies aligned with military objectives.
• Congress overrode Johnson’s vetoes of the Freedmen's Bureau Bill and Civil Rights Act of 1866, showing dissatisfaction with his approach.
• The 1866 midterm elections gave Radical Republicans control, rejecting Johnson’s policies and supporting stricter Reconstruction measures.

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Reconstruction Acts�(1867 CE)

• Congress began dismantling Johnson's state governments, replacing them with structures aligned with Radical Reconstruction.
• The Reconstruction Acts marked the start of Congressional Reconstruction, where Congress controlled the Southern reintegration process.
• The Acts required states to draft new constitutions, ratify the 14th Amendment, enfranchise freedmen, and abolish Black Codes to rejoin the Union.
• The South was divided into five military districts, each under a general’s control until new state constitutions were completed, ensuring federal oversight.

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14th Amendment�(1868 CE)

• The 14th Amendment (1868) granted U.S. citizenship to all born or naturalized in the country, including formerly enslaved people, and ensured equal legal protection, paving the way for civil rights.
• Passed during Reconstruction, it was one of three amendments aimed at abolishing slavery and securing legal rights for Black Americans, shaping future legal reforms.
• It allowed the federal government to reduce Congressional representation for states that restricted voting rights and barred insurrectionists from public office without Congressional approval.
• After Lincoln's assassination in 1865, President Andrew Johnson faced the challenge of reintegrating former Confederate states and defining the rights of freed Black Americans.

14th Amendment�(1868 CE)

• Johnson, a Democrat, supported emancipation but favored lenient Reconstruction policies, clashing with the Republican Congress.
• Johnson's leniency sparked outrage when southern legislatures enacted "black codes" to restrict Black citizens' rights.
• In response, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which Johnson vetoed, but Congress overrode, marking the first veto override in U.S. history.
• Despite the Civil Rights Act, Republicans sought a constitutional amendment for stronger protections, leading to the 14th Amendment.

14th Amendment�(1868 CE)

• In April 1866, Thaddeus Stevens proposed a comprehensive plan on civil rights, Congressional representation, and Confederate war debt, which became part of the 14th Amendment.
• After debate, Congress approved the amendment in June 1866 and sent it to the states, with Johnson opposing its passage.
• Despite Southern resistance, Republican victories in 1866 ensured ratification, supported by Union Army presence in the South.
• On July 9, 1868, Louisiana and South Carolina’s ratifications secured the necessary majority, finalizing the 14th Amendment's adoption.
• The 14th Amendment overturned the 1857 Dred Scott decision by granting citizenship to all born or naturalized in the U.S., including Black individuals born free.

The Treaty of Fort Laramie�(1868 CE)

• The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, renegotiating the failed 1851 treaty, aimed to end raids along the Bozeman Trail by establishing peace between the US and several Native tribes, including the Lakota, Dakota, and Arapaho.
• It created the Great Sioux Reservation (including the Black Hills) and set aside lands as "unceded Indian territory" in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana.
• The Treaty allowed the US to punish settlers and Native tribe members, who would be tried in government courts instead of tribal courts.
• The US promised to remove military forts along the Bozeman Trail, reducing tensions between settlers and Native tribes.

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The Treaty of Fort Laramie�(1868 CE)

• Provisions encouraged Native tribes to transition to farming and adopt "white man's way of life," though responses were mixed.
• While the Treaty protected third parties, the US unlawfully sold Ponca land to the Lakota, causing conflicts and the Ponca's forced relocation in 1877.
• The Ponca's forced relocation, known as the Ponca Trail of Tears, resulted in over 200 deaths, as the US failed to return their land.
• Negotiated by the Indian Peace Commission and signed between April and November 1868 at Fort Laramie, the Treaty’s terms became contentious quickly.

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The Treaty of Fort Laramie�(1868 CE)

• Many tribes did not sign, as complex language left many unaware of the full terms, despite a requirement for three-fourths consent.
• The Treaty shifted from earlier tribal autonomy to a government push for Sioux assimilation into American property and social norms.
• The Miniconjou tribe faced friction when denied trade privileges at Fort Laramie, causing tension despite provisions allowing movement outside tribal lands.
• The Crow, who supported the US in securing the Bozeman Trail, were betrayed when the Sioux expanded into Crow lands, leading to skirmishes.
• After the Treaty broke down, the Sioux attacked neighboring tribes like the Crows and Shoshones, eventually leading to the Great Sioux War of 1876.

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Transcontinental Railroad �(1869 CE)

• The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 created Central Pacific and Union Pacific to build a transcontinental railroad.
• The companies raced from Sacramento to Omaha, meeting at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869.
• America’s first steam locomotive in 1830 sparked railroad expansion, reaching 9,000 miles by 1850.
• Westward settlers after the 1848 Gold Rush faced perilous overland journeys across difficult terrain.

Transcontinental Railroad �(1869 CE)

• Many chose sea routes, risking disease crossing the Isthmus of Panama or enduring a six-month journey around Cape Horn.
• In 1845, Asa Whitney proposed a federal railroad to the Pacific, but it failed amid rising sectionalism.
• By 1860, engineer Theodore Judah identified the Donner Pass as a viable route, founding Central Pacific in 1861.
• The Pacific Railroad Act split construction, with Central Pacific starting in Sacramento and Union Pacific from the Missouri River.

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Transcontinental Railroad �(1869 CE)

• The Central Pacific was managed by the "Big Four," who borrowed heavily and exploited legal loopholes for financing.
• After Judah’s death in 1863, Dr. Thomas Durant took control of Union Pacific, securing profits through Crédit Mobilier.
• Union Pacific construction began in 1866 under General Grenville Dodge, facing resistance from Native American tribes.
• In 1865, Central Pacific employed Chinese immigrants under harsh conditions, while Union Pacific relied on Irish immigrants and Civil War veterans.
• The final spike was driven at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869, completing the railroad, with President Grant notified by telegraph.

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Wyoming and Suffrage�(1869 CE)

• In 1869, Wyoming became the first place to grant women the right to vote and hold office, following earlier limited suffrage efforts elsewhere.
• The "An Act to Grant to the Women of Wyoming Territory the Right of Suffrage, and to Hold Office" was passed by a male-dominated legislature in 1869.
• Wyoming kept its suffrage law despite concerns it might delay statehood, which was achieved in 1890, making it the first state to fully enfranchise women.
• The suffrage movement in Wyoming began when it was part of Dakota Territory, spurred by the Union Pacific Railroad and the South Pass gold rush in 1867.

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Wyoming and Suffrage�(1869 CE)

• South Pass, a key gold rush site, became part of Wyoming Territory after land was ceded from Dakota Territory to support mining camps.
• Early settlers in South Pass were transient miners, uninterested in governance, causing several public infrastructure proposals to fail.
• As businesses and families arrived in 1868, the region began stabilizing, aiming to transform gold camps into permanent towns, despite a politically appointed structure.
• Many Wyoming legislators, familiar with suffrage debates, supported it after failed attempts in Kansas and Dakota Territory.

Wyoming and Suffrage�(1869 CE)

• .National and territorial suffrage efforts faced resistance, with failed bills in Washington, Nebraska, and Dakota, and a post-Civil War federal suffrage bill also failing.
• Advocates believed territories, needing only majority votes and the governor's signature, offered a more feasible path than state constitutional amendments.
• Local women activists, like Anna Dickinson and Redelia Bates, pushed for suffrage, though national organizations didn’t support Wyoming's efforts.
• In 1869, Democrats, including William Bright of South Pass City, backed suffrage, seeing it as a way to attract women settlers to Wyoming.
• The Wyoming legislature passed the suffrage bill on December 10, 1869, despite Governor John A. Campbell’s opposition, making Wyoming one of four states to grant full suffrage by the end of the century.

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National Women's Suffrage Association�(1869 CE)

• On May 15, 1869, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the NWSA to campaign for women's suffrage after a split in the women's rights movement over the Fifteenth Amendment.
• The NWSA formed from the division in the women's rights movement, with one faction supporting the Fifteenth Amendment, granting black male suffrage, and the other, led by Stanton and Anthony, demanding suffrage for both women and African Americans.
• The NWSA focused on federal efforts, urging women to vote and file lawsuits if denied, claiming the Constitution’s equal protection clauses implied women's suffrage.
• In the early 1870s, many women, including Anthony, tried to vote; Anthony’s arrest and trial brought national attention to the suffrage movement.

National Women's Suffrage Association�(1869 CE)

• After a Supreme Court ruling against women's suffrage, the NWSA pushed for a constitutional amendment to enfranchise women.
• The women's suffrage movement gained momentum in the 1800s, starting with the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, where women’s right to vote became a key issue.
• In 1866, Anthony and Stanton organized the Eleventh National Women's Rights Convention, leading to the creation of the American Equal Rights Association to advocate for universal suffrage.
• The American Equal Rights Association split, with Lucy Stone supporting black male suffrage first, while Stanton and Anthony pushed for both women and African American suffrage.

National Women's Suffrage Association�(1869 CE)

• In 1868, Anthony and Stanton launched The Revolution, a weekly newspaper supporting their suffrage campaign.
• The dispute over the Fifteenth Amendment deepened, with Stanton and Anthony opposing it, claiming it would create an "aristocracy of sex," while Stone supported it.
• The NWSA was founded in 1869, two days after the American Equal Rights Association’s last convention, alongside the American Woman Suffrage Association led by Lucy Stone.
• The rivalry between the groups led to a failed merger attempt in 1870, after which the NWSA merged into the Union Woman Suffrage Association, advocating for the Sixteenth Amendment.
• From 1869 to 1879, Stanton and Anthony toured extensively, recruiting members and strengthening the NWSA, with Anthony traveling 13,000 miles and giving over 170 lectures in a year.

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Black Friday�(1869 CE)

• Grant's presidency suffered due to scandals, notably the Black Friday gold market collapse on September 24, 1869.
• Financiers Jay Gould and Jim Fisk orchestrated a scheme to manipulate the gold market for profit.
• Previously, Gould and Fisk had used fraud to block Cornelius Vanderbilt from the Erie Railroad.
• Grant's policy of reducing greenbacks by buying them with gold threatened their plans.

Black Friday�(1869 CE)

• Gould and Fisk enlisted Grant's brother-in-law, Abel Rathbone Corbin, to sway the president.
• Corbin arranged meetings where Gould and Fisk persuaded Grant to avoid selling gold.
• General Daniel Butterfield, appointed by Corbin, helped execute the gold manipulation.
• Gould and Fisk hoarded gold, causing its price to rise after convincing Grant not to sell.

Black Friday�(1869 CE)

• Their plan collapsed when Grant ordered the sale of $4 million in gold, causing prices to plummet and investors to lose heavily.
• Gould sold his gold before the crash, avoiding losses, while Fisk was shot and killed in 1872.
• Grant's reputation was permanently damaged, and his presidency struggled politically thereafter.
• The crisis had no lasting effect on Gould’s empire, which continued to prosper.

The Knights of Labor�(1869 CE)

• The Knights of Labor, founded by Uriah S. Stephens on Thanksgiving 1869 in Philadelphia, began as a secret society of tailors and aimed to unite workers across industries.
• Influenced by his experience as an indentured worker, Stephens sought reforms for wage earners and collective action to improve conditions.
• Stephens envisioned a nationwide organization uniting workers from diverse fields, beyond individual companies.
• After a local union's collapse, Stephens founded the "Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor," using secretive rituals to symbolize worker solidarity.

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The Knights of Labor�(1869 CE)

• The Knights of Labor grew rapidly, welcoming workers from many industries while excluding bankers, lawyers, gamblers, and saloon keepers.
• In 1879, Terrence V. Powderly succeeded Stephens, leading the group through significant growth and influence.
• Under Powderly, the Knights made strides by admitting women as equal members in 1881.
• By the mid-1880s, the Knights reached 700,000 members, becoming a major force in the labor movement.

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The Knights of Labor�(1869 CE)

• The Knights secured victories, including wage increases through strikes against Union Pacific Railroad in 1884 and 1885.
• The group pushed for an eight-hour workday, workplace safety, workers' compensation, and the abolition of child and convict labor.
• They also supported nationalizing railroads and telecommunications, a graduated income tax, and cooperative businesses.
• Despite progressive reforms, the Knights held prejudiced views towards Asian immigrants and supported the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
• Their hostility toward Chinese laborers led to violence and destruction of housing in the Pacific Northwest.

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First Football Game�(1869 CE)

• The first football game was played on November 6, 1869, between Princeton and Rutgers, resembling soccer more than gridiron football.
• Governed by the London Football Association’s 1863 rules, the game used a soccer ball and effectively became the first collegiate soccer match in the U.S.
• Though resembling soccer, this game laid the foundation for modern American football.
• Rutgers won 6–4, marking the start of organized college football in the U.S.

First Football Game�(1869 CE)

• The match, held at College Avenue in New Brunswick, NJ, was the first official college football game, though not in today’s format.
• Rutgers’ rules, based on the Football Association’s regulations, had two teams of 25 players attempting to score by kicking the ball into the opponent’s goal.
• The game featured ten "games," each ending with a goal; the team with the most goals after ten was declared the winner.
• The first true gridiron football game, with carrying and advancing the ball, took place on June 4, 1875, between Tufts and Harvard.

First Football Game�(1869 CE)

• William J. Leggett, later a clergyman, captained Rutgers, and William Gummere, future chief justice of New Jersey’s Supreme Court, captained Princeton.
• About 100 spectators watched as Rutgers players wore scarlet turbans and handkerchiefs, an early symbol of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
• The teams used a strategy with two players near the goal, eleven defenders, and twelve "bulldogs" on offense.
• Rutgers introduced the "flying wedge" tactic, which Princeton countered with "Big Mike" in the fourth game.
• The rivalry began immediately, with Rutgers chasing Princeton players out of town after the victory

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The 15th Amendment�(1870 CE)

• The 15th Amendment (1870) secured voting rights for African American men, prohibiting denial based on race, color, or servitude after the Civil War.
• Despite the 15th Amendment, Southern officials used tactics like poll taxes and literacy tests to disenfranchise African Americans by the late 1870s.
• The 1965 Voting Rights Act ended legal barriers at state and local levels that prevented African Americans from voting under the 15th Amendment.
• The 15th Amendment guarantees voting rights cannot be denied based on race, color, or servitude, reinforcing federal commitment to election equality.

The 15th Amendment�(1870 CE)

• By the late 1870s, Southern states used discriminatory practices to undermine the 15th Amendment’s protection of African American voting rights.
• The Republican-led Congress passed the 1867 First Reconstruction Act, dividing the South into military districts and establishing governments with universal male suffrage.
• By 1870, the 15th Amendment led to African American political engagement and Republican dominance in Southern politics.
• In late 1870, all former Confederate states rejoined the Union, controlled by Republicans, with African American voters helping shift power.

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The 15th Amendment�(1870 CE)

• In 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels became the first African American in Congress, elected to the Senate with Black voter support and a strong Republican base.
• Though Black Republicans didn't hold office in proportion to their numbers, over 600 African Americans served in state legislatures and 16 in Congress during Reconstruction.
• In 1870, Thomas Mundy Peterson became the first known African American to vote post-Amendment, casting his ballot in a New Jersey referendum.
• The 1876 Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Reese narrowly interpreted the 15th Amendment, allowing race-neutral restrictions like literacy tests and poll taxes.
• White supremacist groups, like the Ku Klux Klan, used violence to prevent Black voting, prompting Congress to pass the Enforcement Acts for federal prosecution.

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Force Acts�(1870 CE)

• Between 1865 and 1870, Congress passed the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, abolishing slavery, granting civil rights, and ensuring African American suffrage, making them full citizens under the Constitution.
• Despite these legal gains, violent resistance from white ex-Confederates erupted, especially in the South, as they opposed African American integration into political and social life.
• In response, Congress authorized President Ulysses S. Grant to use military force to protect African Americans' rights and prevent further violence.
• Congress passed three key laws— the Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871, and the Ku Klux Klan Act—to secure African Americans' rights to vote, hold office, serve on juries, and be treated equally.

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Force Acts�(1870 CE)

• The 1870 Enforcement Act aimed to curb violent racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and protect African American civil rights in the South.
• In May 1870, Congress passed the first Enforcement Act, which banned the Ku Klux Klan and other groups from harassing African Americans, safeguarding their constitutional rights.
• The first Enforcement Act also outlawed gatherings intended to violate African American rights and imposed penalties for interfering with voting.
• In December 1870, Senator Oliver H. P. Morton of Indiana introduced a resolution requiring President Grant to report incidents of resistance to federal laws protecting African Americans.

Force Acts�(1870 CE)

• In response, President Grant reported anti-black violence, prompting Senator Henry Wilson to investigate violent acts against freedpeople in the South.
• This investigation led to the second Enforcement Act of 1871, which increased penalties for violent acts against African Americans.
• In April 1871, Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan Act, banning racist vigilante groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, and granting the President the power to suspend habeas corpus in areas with severe terrorist activity.
• While these laws weakened the Klan's violence, they couldn't fully stop opposition to African American voting rights, contributing to the decline of Reconstruction governments by the end of Grant’s second term.

WORK CITED