The Civil Rights act of 1866 was the first time that Congress ever directly legislated on the issue of human rights. In a bitter battle with President Andrew Johnson, the Republican controlled Congress overrode his veto. The Black Codes, which attempted to strip the rights of Black Americans would be ended. The legislation was a Radical Republican political victory that deeply affected the lives of Black Americans.
Fig.1 Andrew Johnson and Civil Rights Political Cartoon
Andrew Johnson and Congress
Having only inherited the role of President due to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson was an unlikely figure to oversee the reintegration of the Confederate states after the Civil War. Johnson was a slave-owning Southern Democrat who had stayed loyal to the Union during the Civil War. Republicans controlled Congress. Voices within the party, known as Radical Republicans, held views that were strongly opposed to Johnson's ideas on how Southern states should be readmitted to the Union.
Radical Republicans: A faction of the Republican Party opposed to human enslavement and in favor of racial equality
Andrew Johnson on States' Rights
Johnson was very sympathetic to White Southerners who resented the new place of Black Americans in southern society. He strongly believed in states' rights and did not believe in racial equality. He did not think that the federal government should be interfering in the types of governments that the former Confederate states wished to set up.
Radical Republicans
Radical Republicans strongly believed in racial equality. They were outraged by the attempts of the Southern states to pass laws that restricted the rights of Black Americans. They believed that full federal power must be brought to bear on the Southern states to effect lasting political and social change.
Causes of the Civil Rights Act of 1866
Although the Emancipation Proclamation had freed the enslaved people of the Confederate States, and the Thirteenth Amendment had ended human enslavement in the entire United States, the South attempted to find any way it could to limit the rights of Black Americans. The Black Codes were created in an attempt to roll back the freedoms that had been gained. Radical Republicans were enraged by these actions. This led to the decision to pursue stronger federal protections for Black Americans.
The Black Codes
The Black Codes were a series of laws that began in Mississippi and South Carolina before spreading to the rest of the former Confederate states. There was no blanket set of laws that covered the entire South but many areas passed similar legislation. The laws restricted Black Americans' ability to own certain property or testify against White Americans in court. Most notoriously, labor contract and vagrancy laws forced Black Americans to either have work lined up for the entire upcoming year or be sentenced to forced labor. While they were technically not enslaved, the labor contract and vagrancy laws forced many Black Americans into labor arrangements with their former owners.
Fig.2 - Lyman Trumbull
Creation and Passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1866
Republicans in Congress felt that they must wield federal power to protect Black Americans in the South. A bill was drafted that Senator Lyman Trumbull introduced on January 5, 1866. The bill would make all of those born in the United States, with the exception of some Indigenous People, citizens whose rights were protected by the federal government. Despite a presidential veto, the law was passed on April 9, 1866.
Movement through Congress
After entering the Senate, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was passed by a vote of 33 to 12 on February 2. The bill then quickly moved through the House of Representatives with a vote of 111 to 38 on March 13. President Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill and delivered an address where he described it as "evil." Despite his objections, both houses of Congress overrode the veto, and the bill became law.
President Andrew Johnson's Veto of the Act
Johnson provided several reasons why he believed that the legislation was unconstitutional. His first was that the bill forced states to accept non-White people as citizens, where state citizenship should be a state-level decision. The second was that it overrode any state's legislation that was in conflict with this new federal legislation. He also opposed the provision that federal military forces could be used to enforce the bill. He generally opposed the bill as granting too much power to the federal government over the states.
This would not be the end of Johnson and Radical Republicans sparring over civil rights. Eventually the feud would result in Johnson's 1868 impeachment trial. Johnson's continued attempts to halt radical reconstruction were at the root of the affair. In 1868, despite his popularity in the South, his own party would not nominate him for a second term.
Protections of the Civil Rights Act of 1866
The new law stated that anyone born within the United States was a citizen, regardless of their race or enslavement, with the exception of Indigenous People who do not pay taxes. The law also spelled out some clear rights that these individuals now had. These rights covered property, courts, contracts, and punishments for crimes. The bill also gave recourse to enforce the bill through federal courts and with federal troops.
Fig.3 - 1866 Civil Rights Act Passes
Specific Rights Granted |
"to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property" |
"to make and enforce contracts" |
"to sue, be parties, and give evidence" |
"to full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property, as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none other" |
Effects of the Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights act of 1866 was the beginning of more federal legislation to aid newly free Black Americans. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments would shortly be ratified to bolster protections. With federal opposition, the Black Codes were repealed in the former Confederate States. However, racism found new expressions in violent terrorist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan. When the White Southerners who resented the new role of Black Americans in society couldn't use legal means of oppression, they resorted to secret and illegal methods.
Civil Rights Acts of 1866 - Key takeaways
- The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was passed in response to laws limiting the rights of Black Americans in former Confederate states
- The bill was drafted and passed by Republicans in Congress over the veto of President Andrew Johnson
- Granted citizenship to anyone born in the United States, except certain Indigenous People
- Spelled out specific rights granted with citizenship
- Forced repeal of the Black Codes
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