1877
President Hayes orders the last federal troops withdrawn from Louisiana. Reconstruction ends.
1870
1876
Republican Rutherford B. Hayes defeats Democrat Samuel Tilden in a contested election amidst allegations of widespread voter fraud in crucial districts. This leads to the so-called Compromise of 1877, under which Democrats do not strongly contest the election results and Republicans agree to withdraw federal troops, returning Southern governments to white local control and thus effectively ending Reconstruction.
1875
Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1875, prohibiting discrimination in inns, theaters, and other places of public accomodiation. It is the last federal civil rights act passed until 1957.
Between 1875 and 1905 several states in the North and West pass their own civil rights statutes, forbidding discrimination in public accommodations. These states include: Iowa, New Jersey, Ohio, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Washington, California, Wisconsin, and Connecticut.
1874
The Indiana Supreme Court holds that segregated schools do not violate the federal or state constitutions.
1873
In the Slaughterhouse Cases, 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 36 (1873), the Supreme Court upholds a Louisiana statute requiring butchers in the city of New Orleans to use a common slaughterhouse. Justice Miller’s opinion strictly limits the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was originally intended to be the basic guarantor of civil equality. The Court’s interpretation virtually reads the Clause out of the Constitution. Later, in Bradwell v. Illinois, 83 U.S.
1871
Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1871, popularly known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment. It is designed to combat the violent intimidation tactics used by the Klan to prevent blacks from voting or claiming basic rights.
1870
Senator Charles Sumner introduces a bill to Congress to outlaw public school segregation and segregation in common carriers and public accommodations, under Congress’s powers to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment. The school desegregation provision is later removed. A modified version of the bill is passed as the Civil Rights Act of 1875 after Sumner’s death.
1870
Senator Charles Sumner introduces a bill to Congress to outlaw public school segregation and segregation in common carriers and public accommodations, under Congress’s powers to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment. The school desegregation provision is later removed. A modified version of the bill is passed as the Civil Rights Act of 1875 after Sumner’s death.
February
Hiram R. Revels of Mississippi, the first black man to be elected to the Senate, takes his seat. In December, Joseph H. Rainey, the first black man to be elected to the House of Representatives, joins Congress as a representative from South Carolina. Rainey becomes the first black man to preside over the House as Speaker pro tempore in 1874.
From 1870 to 1876, nine Southern states send 20 black men to Congress. When the last of these elected officials leaves his seat in 1901, no other African American serves in Congress until 1928.
March
The Fifteenth Amendment, guaranteeing blacks the right to vote, is ratified.
Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1871, popularly known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment. It is designed to combat the violent intimidation tactics used by the Klan to prevent blacks from voting or claiming basic rights.
In the Slaughterhouse Cases, 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 36 (1873), the Supreme Court upholds a Louisiana statute requiring butchers in the city of New Orleans to use a common slaughterhouse. Justice Miller’s opinion strictly limits the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was originally intended to be the basic guarantor of civil equality. The Court’s interpretation virtually reads the Clause out of the Constitution. Later, in Bradwell v. Illinois, 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 130 (1873), the Court holds that Myra Bradwell has no right to be admitted to the Illinois state bar. The Court argues that the right to choose one’s profession does not constitute a privilege or immunity of citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment and that women in particular are not fit to be lawyers because of their legal and natural disabilities. Two years later, in Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 162 (1875), the Court confirms that the Privileges or Immunities Clause does not give women the right to vote.
The Indiana Supreme Court holds that segregated schools do not violate the federal or state constitutions.
Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1875, prohibiting discrimination in inns, theaters, and other places of public accomodiation. It is the last federal civil rights act passed until 1957.
Between 1875 and 1905 several states in the North and West pass their own civil rights statutes, forbidding discrimination in public accommodations. These states include: Iowa, New Jersey, Ohio, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Washington, California, Wisconsin, and Connecticut.
In United States v. Cruishank, 92 U.S. 542 (1875), the Supreme Court narrowly construes the civil rights enforcement laws passed in 1870 and 1871, dismissing indictments against whites for the massacre of hundreds of blacks in a dispute over election results. The Court finds no evidence that the wrong done was based on race.
Republican Rutherford B. Hayes defeats Democrat Samuel Tilden in a contested election amidst allegations of widespread voter fraud in crucial districts. This leads to the so-called Compromise of 1877, under which Democrats do not strongly contest the election results and Republicans agree to withdraw federal troops, returning Southern governments to white local control and thus effectively ending Reconstruction.
