Civil Rights Act of 1866

The First Civil Rights Act (the Civil Rights Act of 1866) was a landmark piece of legislation intended to protect the rights of formerly enslaved people following the American Civil War. It was the first time Congress bypassed a presidential veto to pass a major law, asserting that all people born in the U.S. were citizens, regardless of race.

The Civil Rights Act of 1866

The Act was designed to provide a legal foundation for the 13th Amendment. Its primary goals were:

 * Granting Citizenship: It declared that all people born in the United States were citizens.

 * Legal Equality: It guaranteed the right to make and enforce contracts, sue, give evidence in court, and inherit, purchase, or lease property.

 * Federal Protection: It authorized federal officials to prosecute those who violated these rights.

However, because there were concerns that the Act might be unconstitutional or easily repealed by a future Congress, its principles were essentially "baked" into the Constitution via the 14th Amendment in 1868.

How the Supreme Court Circumvented It

While the law was robust on paper, the Supreme Court systematically gutted its power through several key rulings. The court moved toward a narrow interpretation of the 14th Amendment, effectively handing control of civil rights back to the states—many of which were hostile to the new laws.

1. The Slaughter-House Cases (1873)

This was the first major blow. The Court ruled that the 14th Amendment’s "privileges or immunities" clause only protected a very narrow set of federal rights (like traveling on the high seas), not the broad civil rights granted by states. This effectively told Black citizens that the federal government wouldn't protect them from state-level discrimination.

2. United States v. Cruikshank (1876)

Following the Colfax Massacre, where a white mob murdered over 100 Black men, the Court ruled that the 14th Amendment only applied to state actions, not the actions of private individuals. This meant if a private mob or a paramilitary group violated someone's rights, the federal government had no authority to intervene under the Civil Rights Act.

3. The Civil Rights Cases (1883)

This is perhaps the most direct circumvention. The Court declared parts of the later Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional. They argued that the 14th Amendment didn't give Congress the power to prohibit discrimination by private businesses (like hotels, theaters, or transit).

"Individual invasion of individual rights is not the subject-matter of the amendment." 

— Justice Joseph P. Bradley

The Result: The Rise of Jim Crow

By narrowing the scope of the Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court created a legal "green light" for Southern states to implement Jim Crow laws. These rulings established the following status quo:

 * The federal government could not stop private citizens from practicing segregation.

 * States could bypass equality requirements through "Separate but Equal" (later formalized in Plessy v. Ferguson).

 * Federal civil rights protections remained largely toothless for the next 80 years.

Would you like me to dive deeper into the specific arguments used in the Cruikshank case, or perhaps explore the 1964 Act that eventually corrected these gaps?