The Civil Rights Act of 1866
This is the full text of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which made freedpeople citizens.
Congress Debates the Fourteenth Amendment
Quotations from the 1866 congressional debate over the Fourteenth Amendment help students clarify what the amendment says and its significance.
Conquered (en español)
In Spanish, in an 1865 journal entry, Southerner Kate Stone mourns the Confederacy’s defeat.
A Day of Triumph
In an 1865 diary entry, Northerner Caroline Barrett White celebrates the Union’s victory and the end of the Civil War.
A Day of Triumph (en español)
In an 1865 diary entry, Northerner Caroline Barrett White celebrates the Union’s victory and the end of the Civil War. This reading is in Spanish.
Election Day in Clinton, Mississippi (1875)
Eugene Welborne describes the attacks and intimidations on Black voters on Election Day in 1875.
Election Day in Clinton, Mississippi (1875) (en español)
In Spanish, Eugene Welborne describes the attacks and intimidations on Black voters on Election Day in 1875.
Election Violence in Mississippi (1875)
Robert Gleeds, an African American candidate for sheriff in Lowndes County, Mississippi, describes the violence that occurred on the eve of the 1875 election.
Election Violence in Mississippi (en español)
In Spanish, Robert Gleeds, an African American candidate for sheriff in Lowndes County, Mississippi, describes the violence that occurred on the eve of the 1875 election.
The First South Carolina Legislature
This image shows 63 members of South Carolina’s 1868 state legislature, the first state legislature with a Black majority.