Resource: The Civil Rights Cases

Print Background Essay

The end of the Civil War was marked by three important Constitutional Amendments intended to settle the legal status of former slaves and the balance of power between states and the federal government. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. The Fourteenth Amendment established African Americans as citizens and conveyed upon them rights and protections of citizenship – even if states did not protect those rights. The Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed every [adult, male] citizen the right to vote regardless of previous conditions of servitude or state laws that attempted to bar former slaves. These amendments were ratified between 1865 and 1870.

In addition to amending the Constitution, the president and Radical Republican leaders in Congress passed sweeping legislation to "reconstruct" the South and the Union. They passed laws creating free public schools for all and social welfare programs to address the social and economic conditions of the newly freed slaves, or "freedmen." In the legal sphere, it passed laws guaranteeing that Black people could serve on juries and testify in court. African Americans embraced and adopted the privileges of citizenship. They married, learned to read, purchased property, and ran for public office.

Not all of the Reconstruction efforts were benevolent, however. At the same time the national government issued new protections for freedmen, it also imposed harsh requirements and limits on the Old South. It divided the South into military districts controlled by Northerners. Many Southerners viewed this as an unfriendly "occupation." The federal government also prohibited former Confederate leaders from voting and from holding office. Many Southerners saw these efforts at punitive and harsh.

By the mid 1870's the backlash against Reconstruction became organized and severe. Organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Red Shirts, the White Hand, and other secret societies practiced terror tactics resulting in violence and death for many African Americans.

One law passed by the Radical Republicans was the Civil Rights Act of 1875. It gave full and equal access to places of public accommodations for all citizens. There were many legal challenges to this law. In 1883, the Supreme Court reviewed that law when it consolidated a group of cases referred to as the Civil Rights Cases.

In striking down the Civil Rights Act of 1875, the Court said that while the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from abridging the privileges and immunities of citizenship, it does not prohibit discrimination by individuals (or private businesses.) The court's decision to allow for discrimination between individuals lead to a legalized "separate and unequal" Jim Crow environment and signaled the end of the Reconstruction Era in the United States.

Print Questions for Discussion

• Why do you think Justice Harlan's wife brought out the inkstand that Chief Justice Taney had used to write the infamous Dred Scott decision?
• What did Justice Harlan mean when he said "I would rather be right than consistent?"
• How did the Court’s decision in the Civil Rights Cases (1883) change the interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment?