Slavery to Reconstruction Timeline
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Slavery to Reconstruction Timeline
A nation in change
From 1619 to the end of Reconstruction, enslaved people and their allies resisted slavery, while laws and the nation’s political landscape changed. Freedom came through struggle, and the postwar promise of equal rights faced serious opposition.
1619 • Enslaved Africans were forcibly brought to English-ruled Virginia. This was one early event in the development of slavery in what became the United States; slavery already existed in the Americas.
1861 • The Civil War began after Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter. The war centered on the conflict over slavery and the Union.
1863 • The Emancipation Proclamation took effect. It declared enslaved people free in areas rebelling against the United States, though freedom depended on Union military advance.
1865 • The Civil War ended. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery throughout the United States, except as punishment for a crime.
1868 • The 14th Amendment established birthright citizenship and equal protection under the law.
1870 • The 15th Amendment prohibited denying the vote to men because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Many Black men registered and voted, though barriers and violence persisted.
1877 • The end of Reconstruction marked a retreat from federal protection of Black rights in the South. Segregation and voter suppression expanded in the years that followed.
Use the evidence
Answer in complete sentences where appropriate. For timeline questions, refer to the dates and details above.
- The Civil War began in 1861.
- The Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863.
- They happened in the same year.
- 13th Amendment
- 14th Amendment
- 15th Amendment
- Prohibited denying men the vote because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude
- Abolished slavery throughout the United States
- Established birthright citizenship and equal protection
- The 13th Amendment in 1865 and the 14th Amendment in 1868
- The 1619 arrival and the 1877 end of Reconstruction
- The 15th Amendment in 1870 and the Civil War beginning in 1861
3 printable pages
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