1861 |
Civil War starts with attack on Ft. Sumter. |
1862 |
At Oberlin, Mary Jane Patterson becomes the first African American woman to graduate from college. |
1863 |
The Emancipation Proclamation frees slaves of the Confederate States. |
1863 |
The 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry fights at Fort Wagner, one of 30 African American regiments in the Union. |
1864 |
Baseball is introduced to Cuba by students that had studied in the U.S. and American sailors who were stationed there. |
1865 |
The Ku Klux Klan is founded in Pulaski, Tennessee, originally to oppose Reconstruction governments. |
1865 |
The first African American Newspaper, the New Orleans Tribune, is established. |
1865 |
Shaw University becomes the 1st institution for black education in the South. |
1866 |
Congress passes 1st Civil Rights Act securing rights of citizenship for all born in U.S., regardless of race, or color. |
1866 |
The 9th and 10th Cavalries, now known as the Buffalo Soldiers, are sent West to pacify Native Americans. |
1866 |
Vassar College forms the first women’s baseball team. |
1866 |
Abolitionist and former slave, Frederick Douglass lobbies President Johnson for voting rights of former slaves. |
1868 |
The 14th Amendment is passed. States cannot infringe on rights of citizens, and black suffrage is mandatory. |
1868 |
John Menard is elected to represent Louisiana in Congress but is not seated because he is black. |
1868 |
South Carolina General Assembly is the only state legislature to ever have an African American majority. |
1869 |
1st Transcontinental Railroad is finished. |
1869 |
The Cincinnati Red Stockings are the first professional baseball team. |
1869 |
The National Woman's Suffrage Association is organized to press for women’s equality. |