The Act to Define the Status of Freedmen and their Descendants sought to establish the rights and privileges of African Americans within the Cherokee Nation. The document defined freedmen as those who resided in the Cherokee Nation at the commencement of the American Civil War, those who were at that time slaves of any Cherokee or other citizen, those who were liberated by voluntary act or by law, and those who had not return to the Cherokee country within the time specified within the Treaty of 1866. These men became adopted citizens of the Cherokee Nation, and were granted the corresponding rights and privileges as adopted citizens. The Act was written after 1880, and a proposed date of 1881 has been established, but it has not been possible to define an exact date.

Alfred Dexter Morgan recorded his experiences in the 17th Illinois Cavalry from 1864 to 1865. Morgan and his company saw duty primarily in Missouri, but were also stationed in Kansas at the end of the war. His diary documents encounters with Bloody Bill Anderson and Confederate General Sterling Price, during his 1864 raid into Missouri. The collection consists of two diaries. The second diary concludes in 1866, after Morgan returns home.