Declared enslaved people in Confederate-held territory to be free, shifting the war toward abolition.

Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for crime.

Established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands in the War Department to provide relief, labor oversight, schooling support, legal assistance, and family reunification support for formerly enslaved people and war refugees.

Declared all persons born in the United States to be citizens and guaranteed basic civil rights regardless of race.

Expanded federal support for formerly enslaved people through education, labor assistance, legal aid, and relief services.

Divided most former Confederate states into military districts and required new constitutions, ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, and Black male suffrage as conditions for readmission to the Union.

Placed former Confederate states under military administration and required new state constitutions and Black male suffrage for readmission.

Guaranteed birthright citizenship, due process, and equal protection under the law.

Prohibited denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Protected voting rights of Black Americans and enforced the 15th Amendment.

Series of laws aimed at protecting Black voting rights and suppressing white supremacist violence and intimidation.

Expanded federal oversight of elections and enforcement powers against voter suppression.

Authorized federal intervention against conspiracies that deprived citizens of civil and voting rights, especially Klan violence.

The Supreme Court narrowly interpreted the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, sharply limiting its usefulness as a federal protection against state-level rights violations.

Attempted to guarantee equal treatment in public accommodations and jury service regardless of race.

The Supreme Court overturned federal convictions tied to the Colfax Massacre and sharply limited federal power to protect Black citizens from private racial violence and state-level rights violations.

The Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875, ruling that Congress could not prohibit racial discrimination by private individuals or businesses.

The Supreme Court upheld racial segregation under the separate but equal doctrine.

The Supreme Court upheld Mississippi's poll tax, literacy test, and related voter qualification scheme because the law did not explicitly name race on its face, even though it was designed and administered to disfranchise Black voters.

Representative George Henry White introduced the first federal anti-lynching bill to protect citizens against mob violence, but the measure never made it out of committee.