Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act of 1866, 14 Stat. 27-30, enacted April 9, 1866, was the first United States federal law to define US citizenship and affirmed that all citizens were equally protected by the law. It was mainly intended to protect the civil rights of African-Americans, in the wake of the American Civil War. This legislation was enacted by Congress in 1865 but vetoed by President Andrew Johnson. In April 1866 Congress again passed the bill. Although Johnson again vetoed it, a two-thirds majority in each house overcame the veto and the bill ostensibly became law.
John Bingham and some other congressmen argued that Congress did not yet have sufficient constitutional power to enact this law. Following passage of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, Congress reenacted the 1866 Act in 1870.
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American History USA Articles
- They Called Themselves Redeemers -- The Rise of White Supremacy
Violent resistance emerged to Reconstruction. Guided by a pro-southern doctrine of white supremacy, the Ku Klux Klan and other groups were formed.
Books/Sources
- Civil Rights in the Shadow of Slavery: The Constitution, Common Law, and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 - George A. Rutherglen
- CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1866: An entry from Charles Scribner's Sons' Dictionary of American History - Michael L. Benedict
