How does the civil rights act of 1866 specifically define civil rights and those who may enjoy them?

- A law passed by the Republican-dominated Congress on April 9, 1866, during Reconstruction to protect the rights of freed slaves and to guarantee equal rights to blacks. It was passed over a March 27 veto by President Andrew Johnson. The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guaranteed the civil rights of all citizens regardless of race, was subsequently passed in 1868

Passed over a presidential veto on 9 April 1866, the law declared all persons born in the United States to be citizens, except for unassimilated Native Americans, and defined and protected citizens' civil rights. The law was part of Congress's attempt to reconstruct the union and eradicate slavery after the Civil War. In 1865 Congress had sent the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, to the states for ratification. Under President Andrew Johnson's program for restoring the union, the Southern states were required to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment and abolish slavery in their own states. However, the president set no requirements for the treatment of newly freed slaves. In the South and in many Northern states, free African Americans had not been considered state or national citizens and had been subject to special restrictions of various kinds. In Scott v. Sandford (1857)—the Dred Scott Case—the Supreme Court ruled that African Americans were not citizens of the United States. Acting on this view of the law, the Southern state governments reestablished under President Johnson's authority imposed varying restrictions on their black populations.

Although Johnson had been elected with Abraham Lincoln on the Union Party ticket, backed mostly by Republicans, the Republican majority in Congress was unwilling to recognize the restoration of the states created through his Reconstruction program until the basic civil rights of African Americans were secured. Radical Republicans urged that meeting this goal required the enfranchisement of African American men. More moderate Republicans feared to break with the president on that issue, suspecting that most voters even in the North would back him. Instead, on 13 March 1866 they passed the Civil Rights Act. Overturning the Dred Scott decision and any state law to the contrary, its first section declared that all persons born in the United States, except for Native Americans not subject to taxation (that is, outside state jurisdiction), were citizens of the United States and the states where they lived. It went on to declare that all citizens were entitled to the same basic civil rights as white persons, listing the right to make and enforce contracts, to sue and give evidence, to dispose of property, to get the same protection of the laws, and to be subject to the same punishments. The other sections of the law established stringent provisions for its enforcement, set penalties for its violation, and authorized the transfer of legal proceedings from state courts to federal courts in any state whose courts did not conform to the act's provisions.

President Johnson vetoed the bill on 27 March 1866, signaling his clear break with the leaders of the party that had elected him vice president. However, most Republican voters believed civil rights legislation necessary to protect former slaves, and few followed the president's lead. In June 1866 Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment, which was ratified by the requisite number of states in 1868. Although developed separately from the Civil Rights Act, its first section established a similar definition of citizenship and a more abstract statement of the rights of citizens and other persons. The Civil Rights Act was repassed as part of the legislation to enforce the amendment. Its provisions are still incorporated in various sections of Title 42 (Public Health and Welfare) of the United States Code.

Civil Rights Act 1866

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How does the civil rights act of 1866 specifically define civil rights and those who may enjoy them?

How does the civil rights act of 1866 specifically define civil rights and those who may enjoy them?

The Civil Rights Act (1866) was passed by Congress on 9th April 1866 over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The act declared that all persons born in the United States were now citizens, without regard to race, color, or previous condition. As citizens they could make and enforce contracts, sue and be sued, give evidence in court, and inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property. Persons who denied these rights to former slaves were guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction faced a fine not exceeding $1,000, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both. The activities of organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan undermined the workings of this act and it failed to guarantee the civil rights of African Americans.

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You've been lied to by the left. Rand Paul and libertarians are not 'against' the civil rights act. In fact Rand explain many times (too many times IMO) that he supports the civil rights act as it applies to public institutions. The argument is whether or not you have the right to do private business with whomever you choose VOLUNTARILY. This is really a no brainer, in a private business you should have the right to do business with whomever you want, and not do business with whomever you want, for whatever reason you want.