| Key Provisions | |
Thirteenth Amendment (December 1865*) |
Prohibited slavery |
| Defined citizenship rights of freedmen |
|
Fourteenth Amendment (June 1866†) |
Established national citizenship for persons born or naturalized in the United States Prohibited the states from depriving citizens of their civil rights or equal protection under the law Reduced state representation in House of Representatives by the percentage of adult male citizens denied the vote |
Reconstruction Act of 1867 (March 1867) |
Divided the South into five military districts, each under the command of a Union general Established requirements for readmission of ex-Confederate states to the Union |
Tenure of Office Act (March 1867) |
Required Senate consent for removal of any federal official whose appointment had required Senate confirmation |
Fifteenth Amendment (February 1869‡) |
Forbade states to deny citizens the right to vote on the grounds of race, color, or “previous condition of servitude” |
Ku Klux Klan Act (April 1871) |
Authorized the president to use federal prosecutions and military force to suppress conspiracies to deprive citizens of the right to vote and enjoy the equal protection of the law |
*Ratified by three-fourths of all states in December 1865. †Ratified by three-fourths of all states in July 1868. ‡Ratified by three-fourths of all states in March 1870. |
|