History of the Thirty-Ninth Congress of the United States

A chronological, debate-centered account of the Thirty-Ninth United States Congress that reviews its organization, committee structures, and key legislative battles during Reconstruction. It summarizes debates, roll calls, and committee actions on measures including suffrage for the District of Columbia, provisions for freedmen and the Freedmen's Bureau, the President's veto and congressional responses, and the Civil Rights bill, illustrating procedural maneuvers, amendments, and partisan divisions. Portraits of notable legislators, abridged excerpts from speeches, and descriptions of floor practice convey how lawmaking unfolded amid questions of citizenship, suffrage, and federal authority, while acknowledging omissions and the limits of a condensed narrative.