Alabama Governor Robert Patton authorizes convict leasing, declaring that Black prisoners “should feel the hardship of labor in iron and coal mines” rather than mere confinement. The state begins leasing prisoners to private companies that pay monthly fees while providing minimal food, …
Robert Patton (Alabama Governor)Alabama State LegislatureCoal Mining CompaniesRailroad Companiesprison-industrial-complexsystematic-corruptioninstitutional-captureracial-injustice
Six Confederate veterans found the Ku Klux Klan on December 24, 1865, in Pulaski, Tennessee—creating what historians characterize as America’s first terrorist organization. The founders—Calvin E. Jones, John B. Kennedy, Frank O. McCord, John C. Lester, Richard P. Reed, and James R. …
Nathan Bedford ForrestConfederate VeteransCalvin E. JonesJohn B. KennedyFrank O. McCord+3 moreracial-terrorismreconstruction-sabotagewhite-supremacypolitical-violenceinstitutional-capture
Mississippi becomes the first Southern state to enact comprehensive Black Codes, creating a legal framework to re-enslave freed people through criminalization. The laws include draconian vagrancy statutes allowing arrest of any African American without a written labor contract, apprenticeship …
Mississippi State LegislatureGovernor William L. SharkeySouthern Planterssystematic-corruptioninstitutional-captureprison-industrial-complexracial-injustice
President Andrew Johnson issues his first amnesty proclamation on May 29, 1865, beginning a systematic campaign to pardon Confederate leaders and restore their political power—directly undermining Reconstruction and enabling the restoration of white supremacist control in the South. Johnson’s …
Andrew JohnsonConfederate LeadersRepublican Congressreconstruction-sabotageinstitutional-capturepresidential-corruptionracial-injustice
South Carolina adopts an ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860, becoming the first state to withdraw from the United States following Abraham Lincoln’s election. The state’s authorities immediately demand that the U.S. Army abandon federal facilities in Charleston Harbor, …
Jefferson DavisAlexander StephensSouth CarolinaConfederate States of AmericaJames Buchanansecessionconfederacyslaveryconstitutional-crisistreason+1 more
John Brown led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, on October 16, 1859, seizing the facility with 21 followers in an attempt to spark a slave uprising by capturing weapons and distributing them to enslaved people in the region. The raid exposed how thoroughly the Slave Power had …
John BrownRobert E. LeeJames BuchananU.S. MarinesVirginia Militiaslave-powerinstitutional-capturepolitical-violencedemocratic-erosionfederal-military
The first of seven Lincoln-Douglas debates took place on August 21, 1858, in Ottawa, Illinois, as Republican challenger Abraham Lincoln faced Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas in a contest focused almost entirely on slavery’s expansion into the territories. The debates exposed fundamental …
Abraham LincolnStephen A. DouglasRepublican PartyDemocratic Partyslave-powerdemocratic-erosioninstitutional-capturepolitical-debatesystematic-corruption
Kansas voters rejected the fraudulent Lecompton Constitution by an overwhelming margin of 10,226 to 138 on January 4, 1858, in a referendum that exposed the pro-slavery document’s lack of popular support. The constitution had been drafted by a pro-slavery territorial legislature that consisted …
James BuchananStephen A. DouglasKansas votersLecompton Conventioninstitutional-captureslave-powerelectoral-fraudsystematic-corruptiondemocratic-erosion
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivers the Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, ruling that African Americans “are not and could not be citizens” of the United States and therefore have no standing to sue in federal court, and that Congress lacks authority to …
Roger B. TaneyJames BuchananJohn CatronRobert Cooper GrierU.S. Supreme Court+1 moredred-scottjudicial-corruptionslave-powersupreme-courtconstitutional-crisis+1 more
Kansas Territory held its first territorial legislative election on March 30, 1855, which was stolen through systematic fraud and violence by approximately 5,000 “Border Ruffians” who invaded from western Missouri. Under the leadership of U.S. Senator David Rice Atchison and other …
David Rice AtchisonBorder RuffiansFranklin PierceKansas Territorial Governmentelectoral-fraudslave-powerinstitutional-capturepolitical-violencedemocratic-erosion
Franklin Pierce delivered his inaugural address on March 4, 1853, after defeating Winfield Scott in a landslide with 254 electoral votes to 42 as a pro-slavery Northern Democrat. Pierce expressed hope that the Compromise of 1850 had permanently settled the slavery question, stating “I …
Franklin PierceStephen A. DouglasDemocratic PartySlave Powerinstitutional-captureslave-powerpolitical-deceptiondemocratic-erosionterritorial-expansion
Franklin Pierce won the presidency on November 2, 1852, in a devastating landslide with 254 electoral votes to Winfield Scott’s 42, as divisions within the Whig Party over slavery enforcement came to a catastrophic head. Pierce ran as a pro-slavery Northern Democrat—a “doughface” …
Franklin PierceWinfield ScottDemocratic PartyWhig Partyinstitutional-captureslave-powerparty-realignmentdemocratic-erosionelectoral-politics
President James K. Polk presented Congress with a war message on May 11, 1846, claiming that Mexico “has at last invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil” after Mexican forces killed or wounded 16 U.S. soldiers in disputed territory between the …
James K. PolkZachary TaylorU.S. CongressAbraham LincolnWhig Partyinstitutional-capturepolitical-deceptionexecutive-overreachterritorial-expansionslave-power
President John Tyler’s administration conducted secret negotiations for Texas annexation beginning in September 1843, explicitly designed to expand slavery while deceiving the public about its true motivations. Tyler, expelled from the Whig Party in September 1841 after vetoing their …
John TylerAbel P. UpshurJohn C. CalhounIsaac Van Zandtinstitutional-captureslave-powersystematic-corruptionpolitical-deceptionterritorial-expansion
Face-to-face negotiations for Texas annexation secretly commenced on October 16, 1843, between Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur and Texas minister to the United States Isaac Van Zandt, following President John Tyler’s order to open secret talks on September 18. Tyler, politically isolated …
John TylerAbel P. UpshurIsaac Van ZandtSlave Powerinstitutional-captureslave-powerpolitical-deceptionexecutive-overreachterritorial-expansion
The Whig congressional caucus expelled President John Tyler from the party on September 13, 1841, after he vetoed national bank legislation for the second time in August, revealing that one of the main political principles guiding him was states’ rights ideology and protection of slavery …
John TylerHenry ClayWhig PartyCabinet Membersinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionexecutive-overreachparty-realignmentstates-rights
The Senate voted 26-to-20 on March 28, 1834, to censure President Andrew Jackson for unconstitutionally removing federal deposits from the Second Bank of the United States and placing them in state-chartered “pet banks.” The resolution, introduced by Henry Clay, declared that Jackson …
Andrew JacksonHenry ClayRoger TaneyWilliam DuaneU.S. Senateinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionfinancial-deregulationexecutive-overreachdemocratic-erosion
The House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as president on February 9, 1825, despite Andrew Jackson winning both the popular vote (152,901 to 114,023) and the highest electoral vote count (99, though short of the required majority). When no candidate achieved an electoral majority in the …
John Quincy AdamsHenry ClayAndrew JacksonWilliam CrawfordU.S. House of Representativesinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionelectoral-fraudpolitical-deceptiondemocratic-erosion
Missouri became the 24th state on August 10, 1821, after Congress resolved a constitutional crisis over the state’s attempt to exclude free Black citizens. The original Missouri Compromise of March 1820 had admitted Missouri as a slave state paired with Maine as a free state, drawing a line at …
CongressJames MonroeHenry ClayDaniel Pope CookWilliam Lowndesinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionslave-powerracial-oppressiondemocratic-erosion
Congress charters the Second Bank of the United States as a privately owned institution with a 20-year federal charter, five years after the expiration of the First Bank of the United States. President James Madison, who had opposed the First Bank as unconstitutional in 1791, now supports the Second …
President James MadisonU.S. CongressSecond Bank of the United StatesWilliam Jonesfinancial-corruptionbanking-fraudinstitutional-capturespeculation
President Thomas Jefferson issues a proclamation warning that an unlawful military expedition against Spanish Mexico is being planned, marking the beginning of federal response to the Burr Conspiracy—a treasonous plot by former Vice President Aaron Burr to either invade Spanish territories or detach …
Aaron BurrGeneral James WilkinsonPresident Thomas JeffersonChief Justice John Marshallelite-corruptiontreasonjudicial-protectionaccountability-crisisinstitutional-capture
The U.S. Supreme Court issues its landmark decision in Marbury v. Madison, with Chief Justice John Marshall declaring for the first time that federal courts possess the power to strike down laws passed by Congress that violate the Constitution. Marshall writes that “A Law repugnant to the …
Chief Justice John MarshallWilliam MarburySecretary of State James MadisonU.S. Supreme Courtjudicial-powerconstitutional-interpretationinstitutional-captureunelected-powerjudicial-supremacy
The Federalist-controlled Congress passes the Alien and Sedition Acts, a set of four statutes that restrict immigration and criminalize criticism of the federal government under the guise of national security during tensions with France. The legislation increases the residency requirement for …
President John AdamsFederalist PartySecretary of State Timothy PickeringDemocratic-Republican newspaper editorsCongressman Matthew Lyondemocratic-erosionfree-speech-suppressionpolitical-persecutionauthoritarian-powerinstitutional-capture
Congress authorizes attacks on French warships and effectively declares an undeclared naval war against France, establishing the foundation for permanent American military expansion and the military-industrial complex. The Quasi-War begins after French privateers attack over 316 American merchant …
President John AdamsSecretary of the Navy Benjamin StoddertU.S. CongressGeorge WashingtonFrench privateersmilitary-expansionnaval-buildupinstitutional-capturedefense-spendingpermanent-military
President George Washington signs legislation creating the First Bank of the United States, establishing a national bank chartered for twenty years despite fierce constitutional opposition from Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton’s proposal creates an …
Alexander HamiltonThomas JeffersonJames MadisonGeorge WashingtonU.S. Congressinstitutional-capturefinancial-systemconstitutional-conflictelite-corruptionbanking-power