CIVIL RIGHTS ACTS
Federal legislation enacted by Congress over the
course of a century beginning with the post-Civil
War era that implemented and extended the fundamental
guarantees of the Constitution to all citizens
of the United States, regardless of their race,
color, age, or religion.
The Civil Rights Acts of 1866 (14 Stat. 27)
and 1870 (16 Stat. 140) were enacted to give
newly freed slaves the same rights under federal
law as those afforded to non-slaves. Such rights
were the rights to sue and be sued, the rights to
own real and PERSONAL PROPERTY, and the
rights to testify and present evidence in legal
proceedings. Serious questions existed, however,
as to the constitutionality of the 1866 act and to
whether Congress actually had authority to
enact such a measure. Subsequent to the passage
of the FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT in 1868, Congress
reenacted the act pursuant to its power
under the amendment to enforce the amendment
through appropriate legislation. The Civil
Rights Act of 1866 was, therefore, superseded by
the CIVIL RIGHTS Act of 1870.
In 1875 Congress passed a third Civil Rights
Act (18 Stat. 336) in response to the refusal of
many whites who owned public establishments,
inns, railroads, and other facilities to make them
equally available to blacks. The Civil Rights Act
of 1875 prohibited RACIAL DISCRIMINATION in
such places and guaranteed “full and equal
enjoyment” of such places.
Violations of this act abounded and criminal
prosecutions ensued. A number of convictions
were appealed to the SUPREME COURT OF THE
UNITED STATES which in 1883 declared the act
unconstitutional in the CIVIL RIGHTS CASES,
109 U.S. 3, 3 S. Ct. 18, 27 L. Ed. 835. The Court
reasoned that the social rights that the act safeguarded
were not civil rights and, therefore,
Congress was powerless to legislate on the social
conduct of private individuals. Following this
decision, states began enacting SEGREGATION
into various laws, the most notorious of which
were the JIM CROW LAWS. It took more than
eighty years before Congress would again
attempt to legislate in this area.
The Civil Rights Acts of 1957 represented
congressional recognition that the federal government
had to bring about an end to racial discrimination.
The CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION
was established and the laws guaranteed qualified
voters the right to vote, regardless of their
color. In the years 1964 to 1968 Congress
enacted extensive and far-reaching legislation
affording blacks equal status under the law,
ranging from full and free enjoyment of public
accommodations and facilities to the prohibition
of racial discrimination in employment as
well as transactions affecting housing in the
United States.
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 granted to victims
of unlawful discrimination the right to seek
money damages, jury trials, and back pay.
CROSS-REFERENCES
Civil Rights; “Civil Rights Act of 1964” (Appendix, Primary
Document); Ku Klux Klan Act; “Voting Rights Act of 1965”
(Appendix, Primary Document).
