This is the fourth article in our Deep Dive into the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
We have already seen that the 1866 Act made blacks citizens of the United States and that it outlawed many forms of discrimination, but civil rights are meaningless if the victim of an abuse of his or her rights has no place to turn to for enforcement.
The Civil Rights Act placed the responsibility for enforcing the Civil Rights Act in the hands of the Federal Courts. Section 3 was written in recognition that former slaves were not able to turn to the white-controlled state courts of the South for help. The judges and jurors at the state courts were often former Confederates who opposed black equality. Here is the language in the Civil Rights Act assigning the Federal jurisdiction to what had formerly been thought of as a purely state matter:
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the district courts of the United States . . . shall have, exclusively of the courts of the several States, cognizance of all crimes and offences committed against the provisions of this act, and also, concurrently with the circuit courts of the United States, of all causes, civil and criminal, affecting persons who are denied or cannot enforce in the courts or judicial tribunals of the State or locality where they may be any of the rights secured to them by the first section of this act. . . .
The next section of the Civil Rights Act turned Federal prosecutors and marshals loose on those who would curtail the rights of freedpeople.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the district attorneys, marshals, and deputy marshals of the United States, the commissioners appointed by the circuit and territorial courts of the United States, with powers of arresting, imprisoning, or bailing offenders against the laws of the United States . . . and every other officer who may be specially empowered by the President of the United States, shall be . . . specially authorized and required, at the expense of the United States, to institute proceedings against . . . every person who shall violate the provisions of this act, and cause him or them to be arrested and imprisoned, or bailed . . . for trial before such court of the United States or territorial court as by this act has cognizance of the offence. . . .
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 signaled the opening of a Congressional counteroffensive against those who sought to squash the rights of African Americans. Congress would soon find out that more was needed if complete white dominance of the South was to be reversed.
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