Episode 1 of 2

Creation of the Justice Department

When: June 22, 1870
Where: Washington, D.C.
Part of: United States Department of Justice and Solicitor General created

Congress created the Justice Department in 1870, with the bill signed into law by President Grant on June 22, 1870.

The United States Congress created the Justice Department in 1870 during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. Lawrence introduced a bill in Congress on February 19, 1868, to create the Department of Justice. Grant signed the bill into law on June 22, 1870, establishing the executive department.

Sources

United States Department of Justice Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-13

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.