The time following the Emancipation Proclamation was at first a time when the color line was blurred. Blacks and whites intermingled freely, more so then ever before, yet these interactions were not representative of the South accepting the freedman into society. The Black Codes were enacted so t...

One law in particular led to bitter conflict. The Tenure of Office Act prevented the President from dismissing a Cabinet member without the consent of the Senate. Johnson said the act was unconstitutional because it violated the separation of powers. To make the Supreme Court rule on this law, Johns...

On June 13, 1866, Thaddeus Stevens, the leader of the House of Representatives and the nation's most prominent Radical Republican, addressed his congressional colleagues on the issue of the Fourteenth Amendment. The purpose of this amendment was to secure the fruits of Union victory in the Civil Wa...