Category: Civil Rights Acts
Black Celebration Day of New Won Citizenship Turns to Bloody Night in Norfolk in April, 1866
This is the story of a night of horror that began as celebration of the recognition of the citizenship of Black people. The death toll…
Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction by Kate Masur
Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction by Kate Masur published by W.W. Norton (2021) One of my…
Freedmen’s Bureau Report for Virginia Sept. 30, 1868-The trials of whites for the murder of Negroes
By October, 1868, when this report on the work of the Freedmen’s Bureau in Virginia was published, the Bureau was just three months away from…
War of Northern Aggression, Civil War, War Between the States…The Eternal Argument (or was it?)
One of the most tiresome aspects of writing about the Civil War and Reconstruction period is encountering people who insist that the “real name” of…
March 18, 1869: Pres. Grant Signs Law Barring Racial Discrimination in Laws in District of Columbia
On March 18, 1869 President Grant signed legislation eliminating the word “white” wherever it was used as a qualification for voting, serving on a jury,…
When Ulysses S. Grant Barred Governmental Discrimination Against Blacks in the Nation’s Capital March 1869
On March 18, 1869 the new President Ulysses S. Grant signed legislation eliminating the word “white” wherever it was used as a qualification for voting,…
Video Panel Discussion on Black Suffrage During Reconstruction
C-Span has an interesting panel discussion from the November 2016 Lincoln Forum. The panel discusses African American suffrage during Reconstruction. It looks at broader issues…
Arguing Against Civil Rights in 1875 “You have not the power to make him white, and he never will be satisfied”
Thomas Whitehead was a former Confederate officer who was elected to Congress from Virginia in 1872. In 1875 he gave a speech opposing the Civil…
“Plessy v. Ferguson” Had Its Roots in the Destruction of Reconstruction: Article by David Cole
David Cole, national legal director of the ACLU and a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, has an interesting article in The Nation on the…
Andy Johnson Said that Equality for Blacks Is Discrimination Against Whites: Veto of Civil Rights Act of 1866
We are discussing the veto of the first Civil Rights Act (1866) by Andrew Johnson. Johnson found something to complain about for each of the…