1867

Congress overrides Presidential vetoes to pass the first, second, and third Reconstruction Acts, ushering in the period known as Radical Reconstruction, during which the governments of all Southern States, except Tennessee, are declared invalid and the states are broken up into military districts overseen by federal troops.

Congress gives blacks the right to vote in Washington, D.C.

Howard University, named after the head of the Freedmen’s Bureau, is founded in Washington, D.C.

The first election in the District of Columbia to include black voters results in a victory for the Republican ticket. Similar results are repeated in other areas of the country, where blacks are granted the franchise. These elections also produce new black political leaders.

Congress passes bills granting the franchise to black men in the territories of Nebraska and Colorado, over President Johnson’s veto.

Congress charters Howard University, named after General Oliver O. Howard, Commissioner of the Freeman Bureau and the college’s first president. Howard becomes a premier education institution in the black community and plays an important role in civil rights history. It is here that Thurgood Marshall earns his law degree.