1866 Civil Rights Act

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Long title	An Act to protect all Persons in the United States in their Civil Rights and liberties, and furnish the Means of their Vindication.
Acronyms (colloquial)	CRA 1866
Enacted by	the 39th United States Congress
Effective	April 9, 1866
Citations
Public law	14 Stat. 27–30
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 61 by Sen. Lyman Trumbull (R-IL) on January 5, 1866 Committee consideration by Judiciary Passed the Senate on February 2, 1866 (33–12) Passed the House on March 13, 1866 (34 "not voting") (111–38) Vetoed by President Andrew Johnson on March 27, 1866 Overridden by the Senate on April 6, 1866 (33–15) Overridden by the House and became law on April 9, 1866 (21 "not voting") (122–41)
Major amendments
Civil Rights Act of 1991 (Section 1981) P.L. 102–166
United States Supreme Court cases
Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. (1968) Saint Francis College v. al-Khazraji (1987) Domino's Pizza, Inc. v. McDonald (2006)

The Civil Rights Act of 1866, 14 Stat. 27–30, enacted April 9, 1866, was the first United States federal law to define citizenship and affirm that all citizens are equally protected by the law. It was mainly intended to protect the civil rights of persons of African descent born in or brought to the United States, 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 to support the Thirteenth Amendment. Although Johnson again vetoed it, a two-thirds majority in each chamber overcame the veto and the bill therefore 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 1871.

The author of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was Senator Lyman Trumbull, who introduced the bill in the Senate. Congressman James F. Wilson summarized what he considered to be the purpose of the act as follows, when he introduced the bill in the House of Representatives:

It provides for the equality of citizens of the United States in the enjoyment of "civil rights and immunities." What do these terms mean? Do they mean that in all things civil, social, political, all citizens, without distinction of race or color, shall be equal? By no means can they be so construed. Do they mean that all citizens shall vote in the several States? No; for suffrage is a political right which has been left under the control of the several States, subject to the action of Congress only when it becomes necessary to enforce the guarantee of a republican form of government (protection against a monarchy). Nor do they mean that all citizens shall sit on the juries, or that their children shall attend the same schools. The definition given to the term "civil rights" in Bouvier's Law Dictionary is very concise, and is supported by the best authority. It is this: "Civil rights are those which have no relation to the establishment, support, or management of government."

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