 When the General Assembly convened in December 1865, Bramlette sought to restore harmony in the state by issuing pardons to most ex-Confederates.He and the majority of the General Assembly opposed passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments, and Bramlette protested the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau in the Commonwealth.Bramlette was very proud of those of his accomplishments not related to the Civil War, including the reduction of the state's debt and the establishment of the Agricultural and Mechanical College (later, the University of Kentucky).