1865 Archives

Colfax Massacre in Colfax, Louisiana | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

April 13, 1873: Colfax Massacre

The Ku Klux Klan carried out the Colfax Massacre in response to a Republican victory in the 1872 elections.

Echoes of Enslavement

Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca.
Students discover “echoes of enslavement” in their own state — discrete sites of remembering, forgetting, honoring, lying, or distorting — in this lesson based on the book How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith.

“Mrs. Francis E. W. Harper,” portrait with Frances Harper’s name misspelled, taken from page 748 in The Underground Railroad: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters… printed by Porter & Coates (Philadelphia, 1872).

April 14, 1875: Frances Harper on Grassroots Organizing During Reconstruction

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper spoke in Philadelphia at the Centennial Anniversary of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, urging African Americans to continue organizing for justice.

Outdoor portrait of Navajo Treaty signers at Fort Sumner, June 1868.

June 1, 1868: Navajo Treaty of 1868

Bringing an end to the Navajo Wars, the Navajo Treaty of 1868 created a sovereign nation for the Navajo peoples and returned those interned at Fort Sumner following the Long Walk.

Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families

Book — Non-fiction. By Judith Giesberg. 2025. 336 pages.
The story of formerly enslaved people who spent years searching for family members stolen away during slavery.

June 13, 1866: 14th Amendment Passed

The 14th Amendment to the constitution was passed, granting citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.”

June 19, 1865: “Juneteenth” Emancipation Day

Juneteenth — June 19th, also known as Emancipation Day — Juneteenth — is one of the many commemorations of people seizing their freedom in the United States.

Marker stone at the Little Bighorn Battlefield, Montana.

June 25, 1876: Battle of the Greasy Grass (Battle of Little Big Horn)

Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho defended their land in the battle of the Greasy Grass (Battle of Little Big Horn).

Frances Harper, William Sylvis, Isaac Myers, and John Roy Lynch pictured. They were leaders of the Reconstruction Era in US history

When the Impossible Suddenly Became Possible: A Reconstruction Mixer

Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez and Nqobile Mthethwa. 25 pages.
A mixer role play explores the connections between different social movements during Reconstruction.

Teaching Activity by Adam Sanchez

May 25, 1865: Black Virginians Cast Freedom Ballots

African Americans tested their right to vote and when denied, cast their own “freedom ballots,” on election day in Norfolk, Virginia.

Juneteenth: Teaching Outside the Textbook

Juneteenth — June 19th, also known as Emancipation Day — is one of the commemorations of people seizing their freedom from slavery in the United States. Yet, if the right wing has its way, it will be illegal to teach students about Juneteenth.

Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank

Book — Non-fiction. By Justene Hill Edwards. 2024. 336 pages.
Following the Civil War, tens of thousands of the formerly enslaved deposited millions of dollars into the Freedman’s Bank, but their trust was betrayed when the Freedman’s Bank collapsed within the decade.

We Refuse Discussion Questions

Questions to accompany Chapter One: Revolution of We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance by Kellie Carter Jackson.

Time Period

Theme

Resource Type

Grade

Keywords