Thirty-Eighth Congress of the United States

Date Span
March 4, 1863 - March 4, 1865
Date Event
In Washington, the Senate votes to strike down the color bar on railroad cars in the District of Columbia
- The first session of the 38th Congress is sitting in Washington, DC
The first session of the 38th Congress adjourns for a two-week holiday recess
- The first session of the 38th Congress is in a two-week holiday recess until January 6, 1864
In Washington, the U.S. Senate begins the process of enabling the statehood of the Nevada Territory
In the Senate, a Kentucky senator proposes the immediate discharging of all African-American troops
In the U.S. Senate. Kentuckian Garrett Davis proposes combining six New England states into just two.
In Washington, President Lincoln signs the bill enabling the statehood of the Nevada Territory
In Washington, the U.S. Senate passes the proposed 13th Amendment to the Constitution, 38-6.
In Congress, Representative Harris of Maryland is immediately censured for disloyal comments in debate
In Congress, Representative Long of Ohio is censured for suggesting the recognition of the Confederacy
The House of Representatives passes the Wade-Davis Bill setting radical requirements for Reconstruction
At the U.S. Capitol, debate begins in the House on the proposed 13th Amendment to the Constitution
The U.S. Congress funds "separate but equal" schools for black children in the District of Columbia
At the U.S. Capitol, the vote in the House on the proposed 13th Amendment to the Constitution fails
In Washington D.C., the U.S. Senate votes to repeal all remaining Federal Fugitive Slave Acts
The U.S. Senate votes to ban exclusion from testifying in United States courts on grounds of race
The House of Representatives upholds Senate on banning exclusion from U.S. courts on grounds of race
The U.S. Congress passes the Wade-Davis Bill that sets radical requirements for Reconstruction
In a proclamation, President Lincoln explains why he refuses to sign the Wade-Davis Bill on Reconstruction
In Washington D.C., the House of Representatives passes the Thirteen Amendment outlawing slavery
The 38th Congress comes to the end of its term in Washington DC
In Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, recently retired Congressman James Tracy Hale dies of typhoid
The Thirteenth Amendment outlawing slavery is announced as now the law of the land.
Moses Odell, influential New York Democrat and friend of Abraham Lincoln, dies of cancer in Brooklyn.
United States Capitol, Washington DC
Date Title
The Wade-Davis Manifesto, August 5, 1864
Theodore M. Pomeroy to Elizabeth L.W. Pomeroy, February 1, 1865
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