Congress establishes citizenship and civil rights over a veto

British forces assaulted the defensive line at Rangiriri during the Waikato invasion. Māori defenders contested the advance into their territory. The battle connects military resistance to a wider...

After the battle at Rangiriri, British forces took Māori defenders prisoner. The circumstances of the white flag and surrender remain important to interpretations of the event. Their detention...

Colorado volunteers attacked a Cheyenne and Arapaho encampment, killing many women and children. Some leaders had sought peace. The massacre shows how settler expansion and racial dehumanization could...

Congress approved the proposed Thirteenth Amendment after years of abolitionist struggle and wartime emancipation. A constitutional change could remove slavery beyond the limited reach of the...

The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified, prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime. Ending legal ownership was a fundamental victory. The exception and unequal...

The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, providing birthright citizenship, due process, and equal protection. It challenged a racial citizenship order associated with slavery. Indigenous people under...

The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified, forbidding denial of voting rights on grounds of race, color, or previous enslavement. It did not enfranchise women or prevent all forms of suppression. Black...

Hiram Revels took his Senate seat representing Mississippi. His presence embodied the political opening created by emancipation and Reconstruction. It also challenged claims that Black people were...

The Free Womb Law declared children born to enslaved women legally free, while allowing arrangements that kept their labor under others’ control for years. The reform demonstrates why abolition must...

Spanish authorities executed three Filipino priests accused of involvement in the Cavite mutiny. Their treatment became a symbol of injustice within colonial rule and the church. The memory of...