People, Locations, Episodes

The 15th Amendment is Ratified

*On this date in 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. This guaranteed African American men the right to vote.

The 15th Amendment maintains “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by a State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The text also gives Congress the power to enforce the amendment.

The Enforcement Act of 1870 is Passed

*On this date, the Enforcement Act of 1870 was passed.   It is also known as the Civil Rights Act, First Ku Klux Klan Act, or Force Act. It was an American federal law written to empower the President with the legal authority to enforce the first section of the Fifteenth Amendment throughout the United States. The act was the first of three Enforcement Acts passed by the United States Congress from 1870 to […]

The Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo) Annexation is Defeated

*On this date in 1870, The Annexation of Santo Domingo was defeated.  This was a failed American treaty during the later Reconstruction Era, initiated by American President Ulysses S. Grant.   The goal was to annex “Santo Domingo” (as the Dominican Republic was known then) as a United States territory, with the promise of eventual statehood.  The President feared some European power would take the island […]

The American Redeemers, a story

*On this date in 1870, we affirm the American Redeemers.  They were a white political coalition in the Southern United States during the Reconstruction Era that followed the American Civil War. Redeemers were the Southern wing of the Democratic Party. They sought to regain their political power and enforce white supremacy. Their policy of Redemption […]

The Black Seminole Scouts are Formed

*On this date in 1870, Black Seminole Scouts are remembered.  Also known as the Seminole Negro Indian Scouts or Seminole Scouts, they were commissioned by the United States Army. Despite the name, the unit included both Black Seminoles and some Native Seminoles. However, because most of the Seminole scouts were of African descent, they were often attached to the Buffalo Soldier regiments to guide the troops through […]

The Enforcement Act of 1871 is Passed

*On this date in 1871, the 42nd United States Congress passed the Enforcement Act of 1871, and President Ulysses S. Grant signed it into law.   Also known as the Civil Rights Act of 1871, Force Act of 1871, Ku Klux Klan Act, Third Enforcement Act, or Third Ku Klux Klan Act, it empowered the President to suspend the writ of habeas corpus to combat the Ku Klux Klan and […]

The First Black Woman In America Is Admitted To Practice Law

On this date in 1872, Charlotte E. Ray became the first Black woman admitted to practice before the district Supreme Court (Washington D.C.).

AfricaTown, Alabama is Founded

*Africatown, Alabama, was founded on this date in 1872. This historic African community is three miles north of downtown Mobile, Alabama. It was founded by a group of 32 West Africans, who, in 1860, were included in the last known illegal shipment of African slaves to the United States. The Atlantic slave trade had been banned since 1808, but 110 enslaved […]

Puerto Rico Abolishes Slavery

On this date in 1873, Puerto Rico abolished slavery.

Leaders of the Puerto Rican abolitionist movement, including José Jull6n Acosta, Francisco Mariano Quicones, Julio L. de Vizcarrondo, Ramón Emeterio Betances, and Segundo Ruiz Belvis, waged a long struggle to end slavery on the island.

The Spanish National Assembly was crucial in abolishing slavery in Puerto Rico. The owners were compensated with 35 million pesetas per slave, and slaves were required to continue working for three more years.

The Colfax Massacre Occurs

*On this date in 1873, the Colfax Massacre happened. Also called the Colfax Riot, the violence erupted in Grant Parish Courthouse in Colfax, Louisiana.

Brooklyn, Illinois, is Founded

*Brooklyn, Illinois, was incorporated on this date in 1873. It is one of the oldest towns incorporated by African Americans in the United States. The State name “Illinois” comes from a Native American word meaning “tribe of superior men.” Illinois became a state on December 3, 1818. The town of Brooklyn, also known as Lovejoy, […]

Buxton, Iowa, a story

*Buxton, Iowa, is celebrated on this date in 1873. This predominantly Black town in Monroe County, Iowa, was founded in the 19th century. This Historic Townsite is located east of Lovilia, Iowa, in the rural middle of the state. The Chicago and Northwestern Railway founded and developed the unincorporated community as a coal mining company town to supply the […]

Julia Hayden, Teacher Murdered

*On this date, in 1874, Julia Hayden was murdered.  She was a seventeen-year-old Black girl set to begin her career as a teacher of young Black children in Tennessee.   August was back-to-school time for the kids. It was also when terrorist groups like the White League and Ku Klux Klan would burn schools, whip […]

The Battle of Liberty Place, a story

*On this date in 1874, White Democrats seized the Louisiana statehouse in a takeover. This White resistance and occupation has been called the Battle of Liberty Place.

Taking place in New Orleans, 3500 confederacy members took over the city hall, statehouse, and an arsenal. President Grant ordered the insurgents to disperse and sent in federal troops. Twenty-seven persons (sixteen whites and eleven Blacks) were killed. A great deal damage was done and the Whites were defeated.

The uprising was so severe that the federal army remained in Louisiana for a number of years.

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 Is Passed

*On this date, the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was passed. The Enforcement Act or the Force Act was a United States federal law enacted during Reconstruction in response to civil rights violations against Blacks. The bill was passed by the 43rd United States Congress and signed into law by United States President Ulysses S. Grant. The act was designed to “protect all citizens in their civil and […]