Legislation

Missouri Compromise (1820) — Congressional agreement that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state while banning slavery north of latitude 36°30′ in the Louisiana Territory, temporarily preserving the balance between free and slave states.

Compromise of 1850 — Series of laws passed to resolve tensions over slavery in territories gained from the Mexican-American War; it admitted California as a free state, allowed popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico territories, strengthened the Fugitive Slave Act, and ended the slave trade in Washington, D.C.

Fugitive Slave Act (1850) — Federal law requiring escaped enslaved people to be returned to their owners even if they were found in free states, increasing tensions between the North and South.

Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854) — Law that created the Kansas and Nebraska territories and allowed settlers to decide on slavery through popular sovereignty, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise and leading to violent conflict in “Bleeding Kansas.”

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) — Supreme Court decision ruling that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in U.S. territories, strengthening the power of slaveholders.

First Confiscation Act (1861) — Union law allowing the federal government to seize enslaved people used by the Confederacy for military purposes, weakening the Confederate labor system.

Second Confiscation Act (1862) — Expanded the First Confiscation Act by declaring that enslaved people owned by Confederate supporters were free, further undermining slavery in the Confederacy.

Conscription Act (1863) — Federal law establishing the first national draft in U.S. history to increase Union army manpower during the Civil War.

Black Codes (1865–1866) — Laws passed by Southern states after the Civil War that restricted the rights of freed African Americans, including limiting movement, employment options, and legal protections.

Civil Rights Act (1866) — Federal law granting citizenship and equal legal rights to African Americans and overturning the Black Codes, marking the first major civil rights legislation in U.S. history.

Military Reconstruction Act (1867) — Law that divided the South into five military districts and required former Confederate states to rewrite their constitutions and guarantee Black voting rights before rejoining the Union.

Command of the Army Act (1867) — Reconstruction law that required the president to issue military orders through the commanding general of the army (Ulysses S. Grant), limiting President Andrew Johnson’s control over Reconstruction policy.

Tenure of Office Act (1867) — Law preventing the president from removing certain federal officials without Senate approval; Johnson’s violation of this act led to his impeachment.

Enforcement Acts (1870–1871) — Series of federal laws giving the national government authority to combat the Ku Klux Klan and protect African Americans’ voting rights through federal enforcement.

Civil Rights Act (1875) — Federal law prohibiting racial discrimination in public accommodations such as hotels, theaters, and transportation, though it was later weakened by Supreme Court decisions.