Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
Federal authorities try implementing President Abraham Lincoln’s “Ten Percent Plan” in many states. The plan involves loyalty pledges and supervised elections meant to establish Unionist governments in several southern states. Lincoln suggests for the first time that black men be given the right to vote, but the issue remains contentious.
Unionists assemble to start the process of restoring Tennessee to the Union. Military Governor Andrew Johnson calls for settling the slavery issue and initiates plans to shape relations between the races post-emancipation.
A legally dubious convention seeks to return Arkansas to the Union by amending the state constitution to abolish slavery.
Nathaniel P. Banks begins the process of reconstructing Louisiana under President Abraham Lincoln’s “Ten Percent Plan” by calling on delegates to form a convention to rewrite the state constitution.
Patrick R. Cleburne, one of the best division commanders in the Confederate Army of Tennessee, writes an extraordinary letter proposing that the Confederacy induct slaves into the military.
The first session of the Thirty-eighth U.S. Congress assembles in Washington and receives President Abraham Lincoln’s annual message.