Record number of women heading to U.S. Congress
More than 100 women were projected to win seats in the House of Representatives, easily shattering the record.
U.S. Congress
This archive tracks positive developments tied to the U.S. Congress — the bicameral legislature that writes federal law, controls the federal budget, and oversees the executive branch. Coverage includes landmark legislation, bipartisan agreements, and policy wins that improve lives across the country.
The U.S. Higher Education Act opens college to millions through federal aid
The Higher Education Act, signed by President Lyndon Johnson on November 8, 1965, opened college to millions of Americans who’d been priced out. Johnson chose his own alma mater in Texas for the signing, launching federal student loans, work-study, and scholarships under one roof. Six decades and eight reauthorizations later, it still shapes who gets to learn.
Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing enslaved people in rebel states
The Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863, when President Lincoln declared enslaved people in rebelling Confederate states legally free. Between 25,000 and 75,000 were liberated immediately in Union-held areas, with millions more as federal forces advanced. It reframed the Civil War as a fight against slavery and opened the path to the 13th Amendment.
U.S. Congress abolishes the African slave trade
The U.S. Congress passed an act to “prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States…from any foreign kingdom, place, or country.”
U.S. Bill of Rights ratified, become first 10 amendments of the U.S. Constitution
The Bill of Rights amendments add specific guarantees of personal freedoms and rights, clear limitations on the government’s power in judicial and other proceedings, and explicit declarations that all powers not specifically granted to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved to the states or the people.