As Southerners resigned their Senate and House seats, Republicans could pass projects that had been blocked. These included the
Morrill Tariff,
land grant colleges, a
Homestead Act, a transcontinental railroad, the
National Bank Act, authorization of
United States Notes by the
Legal Tender Act of 1862, the end of
slavery in the District of Columbia, and a ban on slavery in the territories. The
Revenue Act of 1861 introduced
income tax to help finance the war.
