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 struck down grandfather clauses that were used to block Black Americans from voting.

The Supreme Court struck down a Louisville residential segregation ordinance that barred Black people from buying property on majority-white blocks and white people from buying property on majority-Black blocks.

The Supreme Court struck down a Texas statute that explicitly barred Black citizens from voting in Democratic primary elections.

The Supreme Court ruled that states providing a law school for white students had to provide a genuinely equal legal education for Black students within the state.

The Supreme Court struck down Oklahoma's replacement voter registration scheme because it preserved advantages for voters previously protected by a grandfather clause while imposing restrictive, short registration windows on Black citizens excluded under Jim Crow.

Prohibited racial discrimination in the national defense industry and established the Fair Employment Practice Committee.

The Supreme Court ruled that white-only primary elections were unconstitutional.