The House of Representatives votes to impeach Secretary of War William W. Belknap on March 2, 1876—just minutes after he races to the White House, hands President Grant his resignation, and bursts into tears. Belknap becomes the first cabinet secretary in U.S. history to be impeached for his role in …
William W. BelknapUlysses S. GrantCaleb MarshHiester ClymerU.S. House of Representativessystematic-corruptionexecutive-branch-corruptioninstitutional-captureelite-impunity
On May 10, 1875, Treasury Secretary Benjamin H. Bristow conducted coordinated raids across the nation that exposed the Whiskey Ring—a massive conspiracy involving whiskey distillers, Treasury Department officials, and politicians who had been systematically defrauding the federal government of tax …
Benjamin H. BristowOrville BabcockUlysses S. GrantTreasury DepartmentWhiskey Distillerssystematic-corruptiontax-evasioninstitutional-captureexecutive-branch-corruption
An estimated 150-300 Black citizens and two white citizens are killed during the Vicksburg massacre, a coordinated campaign of white supremacist violence that begins on December 7, 1874, and continues until around January 5, 1875, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The massacre follows the forced …
White LeaguePeter CrosbyAndrew J. GilmerUlysses S. Grantwhite-supremacyreconstruction-sabotagepolitical-violenceinstitutional-racismelite-impunity
The White League stages an armed insurrection against Louisiana’s Reconstruction government on September 14, 1874, in New Orleans. Five thousand White League members—Confederate veterans organized as “the military arm of the Democratic Party”—overwhelm 3,500 state police and …
White LeagueJames LongstreetWilliam Pitt KelloggUlysses S. GrantJohn McEnerywhite-supremacyreconstruction-sabotagepolitical-violenceinstitutional-captureelite-impunity
Congress officially repeals the congressional portion of the Salary Grab Act on January 20, 1874, sustaining only the salary increases for the President and Supreme Court Justices. The repeal comes after months of intense public fury over the March 1873 legislation that doubled congressional …
U.S. CongressUlysses S. GrantElihu Washburnesystematic-corruptionlegislative-corruptiongilded-ageelite-impunity
On November 5, 1872, Susan B. Anthony voted in the presidential election between Ulysses S. Grant and his opponent in Rochester, New York, along with 14 other women, in a deliberate act of civil disobedience designed to test whether the 14th Amendment granted women voting rights as citizens. Four …
Susan B. AnthonyWard HuntJohn Van VoorhisSylvester LewisUlysses S. Grantwomens-suffragejudicial-capturecivil-disobedienceconstitutional-lawdemocratic-exclusion
President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Ku Klux Klan Act (Third Enforcement Act) on April 20, 1871, granting the federal government unprecedented power to combat terrorist organizations denying Americans their constitutional rights. The Act—passed by the 42nd Congress alongside the First Enforcement …
Ulysses S. Grant42nd United States CongressAmos AkermanKu Klux Klanreconstructionfederal-enforcementracial-terrorismcivil-rights-protection