(2) The Dominican Fathers, who perished the following day 25 May, belonged to the College of Arcueil, close to Paris. Their superior was Father Captier, who founded the college and under whose government it had prospered. With him were for religious of his order: Fathers Bourard, Delhorme Cottrault, and Chatagneret, and eight laymen, who belonged to the college, either as professors or as. On November 9, 2007, plaintiff, Anna Marie Watson, instituted this civil action against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Public Welfare (“DPW”), setting forth claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. (“Title VII”), and under the Pennsylvania Human Relations.
Updated February 1, 2010
Table of Contents
- Part 2: 1538-1819
Part 1: Introduction
Immigration records, more popularly known as 'ship passenger arrival records,' may provide evidence of a person's arrival in the United States, as well as foreign birthplace. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has immigration records for various ports for the years 1800-1959.
Part 2: 1538-1819
What We Have:
Until January 1, 1820, the U.S. Federal Government did not require require captains or masters of vessels to present a passenger list to U.S. officials. Thus, as a general rule, NARA does not have passenger lists of vessels arriving before January 1, 1820. There are, however, two exceptions to this general rule:
Arrivals at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1813-1819, are reproduced in NARA microfilm publication:
Roll 1 of M2009, Work Projects Administration Transcript of Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1813-1849 (2 rolls)
.Arrivals at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1800-1819, are reproduced in two NARA microfilm publications:
Rolls 1-29 of M425, Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1800-1882 (108 rolls), which is indexed by M360, Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1800-1906 (151 rolls). Note, however, that M425 undoubtedly does not include everyone arriving at Philadelphia during 1800-1819.
What We Don't Have:
To locate other passenger lists from 1538-1819, consult these books (among many others), which are found in libraries with genealogical collections:
- Indexes
Filby, P. William, ed. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index: A Guide to Published Arrival Records of ... Passengers who Came to the United States and Canada in the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries. 3 volumes plus annual supplements. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1981-__. This series is a finding aid to published passenger lists. Be sure to read the 'front material' to understand how to use the information you find. - Bibliographies
Filby, P. William, ed. Passenger and Immigration Lists Bibliography, 1538-1900. 2d ed. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Co., 1988.
Lancour, Harold, comp. A Bibliography of Ship Passenger Lists, 1538-1825; Being a Guide to Published Lists of Early Immigrants to North America. 3d ed. New York: New York Public Library, 1978.
Wood, Virginia Steele. Immigrant Arrivals: A Guide to Published Sources. Revised. (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Local History & Genealogy Reading Room, n.d.). - Compilations
Carl Boyer and Michael Tepper, each using a different format, have undertaken to publish the names in Lancour's lists. Tepper's coverage of Lancour is not comprehensive: an inventory of those articles omitted appears on pages viii, ix and x of New World Immigrants.....
Boyer, Carl. Ship Passenger Lists, National and New England (1600-1825). Newhall, CA: C. Boyer, 1977. Covers Lancour entries 1-71.
Boyer, Carl. Ship Passenger Lists, New York and New Jersey (1600-1825). Newhall, CA: C. Boyer, 1978. Covers Lancour entries 72-115.
Boyer, Carl. Ship Passenger Lists, Pennsylvania and Delaware (1641-1825). Newhall, CA: C. Boyer, 1980. Covers Lancour entries 116-197.
Boyer, Carl. Ship Passenger Lists, the South (1538-1825). Newhall, CA: C. Boyer, 1979. Covers Lancour entries 198E-243.
Tepper, Michael. New World Immigrants: a Consolidation of Ship Passenger Lists and Associated Data from Periodical Literature. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1979.
Tepper, Michael. Passengers to America: A Consolidation of Ship Passenger Lists From the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977.
Tepper, Michael. Emigrants to Pennsylvania, 1641-1819: a Consolidation of Ship Passenger Lists from the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1978
Tepper, Michael. Immigrants to the Middle Colonies: a Consolidation of Ship Passenger Lists and Associated Data from The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1978 - Ethnic GroupsThere are numerous published name indexes to 16th through 19th century arrivals of persons of various ethnic groups, including persons of Czechoslovakian, Dutch, English, German, Irish, Italian, and Russian descent. For a listing of some of these indexes, see:Wood, Virginia Steele. Immigrant Arrivals: A Guide to Published Sources. Revised. (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Local History & Genealogy Reading Room, n.d.).Two online guides to immigration by particular ethnic groups are:
Douglas, Lee V. Danish Immigration to America: An Annotated Bibliography of Resources at the Library of Congress. Research Guide No. 28. (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Local History & Genealogy Reading Room, n.d.).
Douglas, Lee V. A Select Bibliography of Works: Norwegian-American Immigration and Local History. Research Guide No. 6. (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Local History & Genealogy Reading Room, n.d.).
Special Immigration Topics Described on Other NARA Web pages
Great Lakes Crew Lists describes records of crew lists arriving at U.S. ports from Canadian or other foreign ports.
Mexican Border Crossing Records describes records of alien and citizen arrivals at the U.S.-Mexican border.
Part 3: 1820-1959
Early records relating to immigration originated in regional customhouses. The U.S. Customs Service conducted its business by designating collection districts. Each district had a headquarters port with a customhouse and a collector of customs, the chief officer of the district.
An act of March 2, 1819 (3 Stat. 489) required the captain or master of a vessel arriving at a port in the United States or any of its territories from a foreign country to submit a list of passengers to the collector of customs, beginning January 1, 1820. The act also required that the collector submit a quarterly report or abstract, consisting of copies of these passenger lists, to the Secretary of State, who was required to submit such information at each session of Congress. After 1874, collectors forwarded only statistical reports to the Treasury Department. The lists themselves were retained by the collector of customs. Customs records were maintained primarily for statistical purposes.
On August 3, 1882, Congress passed the first Federal law regulating immigration (22 Stat. 214-215); the Secretary of the Treasury had general supervision over it between 1882 and 1891. The Office of Superintendent of Immigration in the Department of the Treasury was established under an act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. 1085), and was later designated a bureau in 1895 with responsibility for administering the alien contract-labor laws. In 1900 administration of the Chinese-exclusion laws was added. Initially the Bureau retained the same administrative structure of ports of entry that the Customs Service had used. By the turn of the century it began to designate its own immigration districts, the numbers and boundaries of which changed over the years.
In 1903 the Bureau became part of the Department of Commerce and Labor; its name was changed to the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization when functions relating to naturalization were added in 1906. In 1933 the functions were transferred to the Department of Labor and became the responsibility of the newly formed Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Under President Roosevelt's Reorganization Plan V of 1940, the INS was moved to the Department of Justice. The INS was abolished, and its immigration and naturalization recordkeeping functions were transferred to the new Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services within the new Department of Homeland Security, established January 24, 2003, by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (116 Stat. 2135, 2205).
Part 4: Sample Immigration Records
Partial list of survivors of the Titanic who were taken aboard the Carpathia, which arrived at the Port of New York, NY, April 18, 1912. This list was erroneously filed by the INS with June 18, 1912, arrivals, and can be found in NARA microfilm publication T715, Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957, Roll 1883, Vol. 4183.
Part 5: Available 1800-1959 Immigration Records
Many of NARA's immigration / passenger list records have been digitized by our partners. See our list of all the digitized records that are available on our partner's websites
Familysearch.org is a free site. Ancestry and Fold3 are both subscription services that allow free searches of some or all index terms for each title. Free access to Ancestry.com and Fold3.com is available in all Research Rooms at the National Archives, including those in our regional archives and Presidential libraries.
Agreements with our partners are such that there will eventually be free access online to all these digitized records, as the records will be put into the National Archives Catalog.
Various NARA microfilm publications reproduce passenger arrival records and/or vessel crew lists from the water or land border ports listed below. This section was last updated February 1, 2010.
- Alburg, Vermont, 1895-1924; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Babb, Montana, 1928-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont
- Baltimore, Maryland, 1820-1897 and 1891-1957
- Bangor, Maine, 1848 and 1924-1952
- Baudette, Minnesota, 1907-1952 and 1954 (A3444); see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Beaver, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon (M1777)
- Beecher Falls, Vermont, 1895-1924; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Black Rock, New York, see Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Blaine, Washington, 1929; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Boca Grande, Florida, 1890-1924 (see T517) and 1912-1939
- Boston, Massachusetts, 1820-1891; 1891-1943; and 1820-1949
- Bradwood, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon (M1777)
- Breland [Bretland?], Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon (M1777)
- Bridgeport, Connecticut,1870 and 1929-1959
- Buffalo, New York, 1902-1954 (M1480) and 1945-1974 (A3425); see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Calais, Maine, see Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Cape Vincent, New York, 1929-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Castle Garden, see New York, New York
- Charleston, South Carolina, 1820-1828 and 1890-1924 (see T517)
- Charlotte, New York, see Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Chief Mountain, Montana, 1936-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont
- Cleveland, Ohio, see Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Coos Bay, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon (M1777)
- Cut Bank, Montana, 1941-1953; see also Saint Albans, Vermont
- Del Bonita, Montana, 1940-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont
- Detroit, Michigan, 1906-1954; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Duluth, Minnesota, 1907-1952 and 1922-1958 (crew); see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Eastport, Idaho, 1924-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Eastport, Maine, 1906-1952 and 1949-1958 (crew); see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- El Capitan, California, 1929-1956, see Ventura, California
- Ellis Island, see New York, New York
- Ellwood, California, 1929-1956, see Ventura, California
- Fairfield, Connecticut, 1804-1889 and 1820-1821
- Falmouth, Maine, 1820-1868, see Portland, Maine; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Fall River, Massachusetts, 1837-1865 and
- Ferry, Washington, 1917-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Fort Covington, New York, 1929-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Fort Fairfield, Maine, see Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Fort Kent, Maine, 1906-1952; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Galveston, Texas, 1846-1871, and 1896-1951
- Gateway, Montana, 1923-1939; see also Saint Albans, Vermont
- Gloucester, Massachusetts, 1820-1870, and 1918-1943
- Grays Harbor, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon (M1777)
- Great Falls, Montana, 1936-1953; see also Saint Albans, Vermont
- Hannah, North Dakota, see Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Hartford, Connecticut, 1837 and 1929-1959
- Havre, Montana, 1924-1952; see also Saint Albans, Vermont
- Houlton, Maine, 1906-1953; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- International Falls, Minnesota, 1907-1952, 1909-1952, and 1949-1956 (A3444); see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Island Pond, Vermont, 1895-1924; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Jackman, Maine, see Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Key West, Florida, 1837-1868, 1890-1924 (see T517), and 1898-1945
- Knights Key, Florida, 1890-1924 (see T517) and 1908-1912 (see A3371)
- Lewiston, New York, 1902-1954; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Los Angeles, California, 1907-1949; see also Ventura, California
- Loring, Montana, 1936-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont
- Louisville Landing, New York, see Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Lowelltown, Maine, see Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Lubec, Maine, 1906-1952; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Madawaska, Maine, 1906-1952; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Malone, New York, 1929-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Marcus, Washington, 1923-1951; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Marshfield, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon (M1777)
- Mineral Center, Minnesota, 1907-1952; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Mobile, Alabama, 1832-1852 and 1890-1924 (see T517)
- Morristown, New York, 1929-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Neche, North Dakota, see Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- New Bedford, Massachusetts, 1826-1852 and 1902-1954
- New Haven, Connecticut, 1820-1873 and 1929-1959
- New London, Connecticut, 1820-1847;
- 1918-1954; and 1929-1959
- New Orleans, Louisiana, 1820-1902 and 1900-1952 and departures, 1867-1871
- Newport, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon (M1777)
- Newport, Rhode Island, 1820-1857 and 1918-1957
- Newport, Vermont, 1906-1924; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- New York, New York (also known as 'Ellis Island' and 'Castle Garden'), 1820-1957 and 1892-1924
- Niagara Falls, 1902-1954; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Northgate, North Dakota, see Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Nyando, New York, 1929-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Ogdensburg, New York, 1929-1956 and 1948-1972; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Old Town, Maine, see Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Opheim, Montana, 1926-1954; see also Saint Albans, Vermont
- Oroville, Washington, 1918-1954; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Pascagoula, Mississippi, see Gulfport, Mississippi
- Pembina, North Dakota, 1917-1929; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Pensacola, Florida, 1890-1924 (see T517) and 1926-1948
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1800-1906, 1883-1948, and 1907-1952
- Pigeon River, Minnesota, 1907-1952; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Pine Creek, Minnesota, 1907-1952; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Portal, North Dakota, 1915-1952; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Porthill, Idaho, 1923-1952 see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Port Hueneme, California, 1929-1956, see Ventura, California
- Port Huron, Michigan, 1902-1957; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Portland, Maine, 1820-1868, and 1893-1943
- Portsmouth, Virginia, see Norfolk, Virginia
- Port Townsend, Washington, see Seattle and Tacoma, Washington
- Providence, Rhode Island, 1820-1867; 1911-1954; and 1918-1954
- Ranier, Minnesota, 1909-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Raymond, Montana, 1931-1952; see also Saint Albans, Vermont
- Richford, Vermont, 1895-1924; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Rochester, New York, 1866, 1902-1954, and 1944-1958 (crew); see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Rooseveltown, New York, see Nyando, New York
- Roosville, Montana, 1929-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont
- Roseau, Minnesota, 1907-1952; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Rouses Point, New York, 1929-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Saint Clair, Michigan, 1906-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Saint Mary, Michigan, see Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Sandusky, Ohio, 1820 and 1955-1958
- San Francisco, California, 1882-1957 and 1882-1957; see also Ventura, California
- San Pedro, California, 1907-1949; see also Ventura, California
- Savannah, Georgia, 1820-1868, 1890-1924 (see T517), and 1906-1945
- Seattle, Washington, and Other Washington Ports, 1882-1957; also 1947-1957 (A3376)
- Sumas, Washington, 1924-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Swanton, Vermont, 1895-1924; see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- Tacoma, Washington, 1894-1909 and 1947-1957
- Tampa, Florida, 1890-1924 (see T517) and 1898-1945 (see M1844)
- Turner, Montana, 1929-1956; see also Saint Albans, Vermont
- Warren, Rhode Island, 1820-1871, see Bristol, Rhode Island
- Warrenton, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon (M1777)
- Warroad, Minnesota, 1907-1952 and 1948-1956 (A3444); see also Saint Albans, Vermont, 1895-1954
- White Pass, Alaska, 1906-1946, see Skagway, Alaska
- Westby, Montana, 1925-1943; see also Saint Albans, Vermont
Part 6: Where to Find These Records
Washington, DC
You may do research in immigration records in person at the National Archives Building, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001. Staff is available there to answer your questions. NARA microfilm publications may be examined during regular research room hours; no prior arrangement is necessary.
NARA Regional Facilities
Some National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) regional facilities have selected immigration records; call to verify their availability or check the online Microfilm Catalog.
Libraries
Libraries with large genealogical collections also have selected NARA microfilm publications.
Online
Commercial genealogy vendors such as Ancestry.com have some NARA immigration microfilm publications online.
To obtain immigration records by mail
To obtain immigration records by mail
Order copies of passenger arrival records online, or with NATF Form 81
You can also obtain the NATF Form 81 by writing to: National Archives and Records Administration, Attn: NWCTB, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001.
You can also obtain the NATF Form 81 by writing to: National Archives and Records Administration, Attn: NWCTB, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001.
Part 7: For more information
For useful guides on the historical and legal background of passenger arrival records, explanation of what information they contain, and search strategies, see:
Colletta, John P. They Came in Ships. 2d ed. Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry, Inc., 1993.
Tepper, Michael. American Passenger Arrival Records. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1988.
For more detailed examinations of immigration in U.S. history, see:
Handlin, Oscar, ed. Immigration as a Factor in American History. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1959.
Handlin, Oscar, ed. The Uprooted: The Epic Story of the Great Migrations that Made the American People. Reprinted, 2d edition enlarged, Boston: Little Brown & Co., 1973.
Higham, John. Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1955. Reprint, New York: Atheneum, 1963-1981.
Konvitz, Milton R. Civil Rights in Immigration. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1953.
Wittke, Carl. Refugees of Revolution: The German Forty-Eighters in America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Press, 1952. Examines German immigration to the U.S. following the failed 1848 revolution in Germany.
Tepper, Michael. American Passenger Arrival Records. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1988.
For more detailed examinations of immigration in U.S. history, see:
Handlin, Oscar, ed. Immigration as a Factor in American History. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1959.
Handlin, Oscar, ed. The Uprooted: The Epic Story of the Great Migrations that Made the American People. Reprinted, 2d edition enlarged, Boston: Little Brown & Co., 1973.
Higham, John. Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1955. Reprint, New York: Atheneum, 1963-1981.
Konvitz, Milton R. Civil Rights in Immigration. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1953.
Wittke, Carl. Refugees of Revolution: The German Forty-Eighters in America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Press, 1952. Examines German immigration to the U.S. following the failed 1848 revolution in Germany.
Long title | An act to protect all citizens in their civil and legal rights. |
---|---|
Acronyms(colloquial) | CRA 1875 |
Nicknames | Enforcement Act, Force Act, and Sumner Civil Rights Bill |
Enacted by | the 43rd United States Congress |
Citations | |
Statutes at Large | 18 Stat.335-337 |
Legislative history | |
| |
United States Supreme Court cases | |
Civil Rights Cases (1883) |
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 sometimes called the Enforcement Act or the Force Act, was a United States federal law enacted during the Reconstruction era in response to civil rights violations against African Americans. The bill was passed by the 43rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1875.
The act was designed to 'protect all citizens in their civil and legal rights', providing for equal treatment in public accommodations and public transportation and prohibiting exclusion from jury service. It was originally drafted by Senator Charles Sumner in 1870, but was not passed until shortly after Sumner's death in 1875. The law was not effectively enforced, partly because President Grant had favored different measures to help him suppress election-related violence against blacks and Republicans in the South.
The Reconstruction era ended with the resolution of the 1876 presidential election, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was the last federal civil rights law enacted until the passage of Civil Rights Act of 1957. In 1883, the Supreme Court ruled in the Civil Rights Cases that the public accommodation sections of the act were unconstitutional, saying Congress was not afforded control over private persons or corporations under the Equal Protection Clause. Parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 were later re-adopted in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968, both of which cited the Commerce Clause as the source of Congress's power to regulate private actors.
- 8Further reading
- 8.1Books
- 9External links
Legislative history[edit]
The drafting of the bill was performed early in 1870 by SenatorCharles Sumner, a dominant Radical Republican in the Senate, with the assistance of John Mercer Langston, a prominent African American who established the law department at Howard University.[2] The bill was proposed by Senator Sumner and co-sponsored by RepresentativeBenjamin F. Butler, both Republicans from Massachusetts, in the 41st Congress of the United States in 1870. Congress removed the coverage of public schools that Sumner had included. The act was passed by the 43rd Congress in February 1875 as a memorial to honor Sumner, who had just died.[3] It was signed into law by U.S. PresidentUlysses S. Grant on March 1, 1875.[4]
Enforcement[edit]
President Grant had wanted an entirely different law to help him suppress election-related violence against blacks and Republicans in the South. Congress did not give him that, but instead wrote a law for equal rights to public accommodations that was passed as a memorial to Grant's bitterest enemy, the late Senator Charles Sumner.[5] Grant never commented on the 1875 law, and did nothing to enforce it says historian John Hope Franklin.[6] Grant's Justice Department ignored it and did not send copies to US attorneys, says Franklin, while many federal judges called it unconstitutional before the Supreme Court shut it down. Franklin concludes regarding Grant and Hayes administrations, 'The Civil Rights Act was never effectively enforced.' [7] Public opinion was opposed, with the black community in support.[8] Historian Rayford Logan looking at newspaper editorials finds the press was overwhelmingly opposed.[9]
Case law[edit]
The Supreme Court, in an 8–1 decision, declared sections of the act unconstitutional in the Civil Rights Cases on October 15, 1883. JusticeJohn Marshall Harlan provided the lone dissent. The Court held the Equal Protection Clause within the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits discrimination by the state and local government, but it does not give the federal government the power to prohibit discrimination by private individuals and organizations.[10][page needed] The Court also held that the Thirteenth Amendment was meant to eliminate 'the badge of slavery,' but not to prohibit racial discrimination in public accommodations. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was the last federal civil rights bill signed into law until the Civil Rights Act of 1957, enacted during the Civil Rights Movement.
Legacy[edit]
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 is notable as the last major piece of legislation related to Reconstruction that was passed by Congress during the Reconstruction era. These include the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the four Reconstruction Acts of 1867 and 1868, the three Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871, and the three Constitutional Amendments adopted between 1865 and 1870.[11]
Provisions contained in the Civil Rights Act of 1875 were later readopted by Congress during the Civil Rights Movement as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The 1964 and 1968 acts relied upon the Commerce Clause contained in Article One of the Constitution of the United States rather than the Equal Protection Clause within the Fourteenth Amendment.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'Civil Rights Bill of 1875, Legislative Interests, The Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood, Black Americans in Congress series'. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
- ^'John Mercer Langston, Representative, 1890–1891, Republican from Virginia, Black Americans in Congress series'. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
- ^Hoffer (2010), p. 121
- ^'Civil Rights Bill of 1875, Legislative Interests, The Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood, Black Americans in Congress series'. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^Smith (2002), pp. 566-68
- ^Franklin (1974), pp. 225-35
- ^Franklin (1974), p. 235
- ^Gillette (1982), p. 201
- ^Logan (1997), p. 173-175
- ^Gerber and Friedlander (2008)
- ^'Summary of Constitutional Amendments and Major Civil Rights Acts passed by Congress'. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
Bibliography[edit]
- Franklin, John Hope (Winter 1974). 'The Enforcement of the Civil Rights Act of 1875'. Prologue Magazine. 6 (4): 225–235.
- Gerber, Richard A.; Friedlander, Alan (2008). The Civil Rights Act of 1875: A Reexamination. Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences. ISBN9781878508287.
- Gillette, William (1982). 'Insignificant Victory: The Civil Rights Act of 1875'. Retreat from Reconstruction, 1869--1879. LSU Press. pp. 259–279. ISBN9780807110065.
- Hoffer, Williamjames Hull (2010). The Caning of Charles Sumner: Honor, Idealism, and the Origins of the Civil War. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN9780801899577.
- Logan, Rayford Whittingham (1997) [1965]. The Betrayal of the Negro: From Rutherford B. Hayes to Woodrow Wilson. DaCapo Press. ISBN9780306807589.
- Smith, Jean Edward (2002). Grant. Simon and Schuster. ISBN9780684849270.
Further reading[edit]
Books[edit]
Encyclopedias[edit]
- Atwell, Mary Welek (2012). 'Civil Rights Act of 1875'. In Wilbur R. Miller (ed.). The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia. SAGE. pp. 262–263. ISBN9781412988780.
- Bitzer, J. Michael (2013). 'Civil Rights Act of 1875'. In Paul Finkelman (ed.). The Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties. Routledge. p. 300. ISBN9781135947057.
- Rivera, Alicia (2006). 'Civil Rights Act of 1875'. In Paul Finkelman (ed.). Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895: From The Colonial Period to the Age of Frederick Douglass, vol. 1, A-E. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 285–287. ISBN9780195167771.
Monographs[edit]
- Friedlander, Alan; Gerber, Richard Allan (2018). Welcoming Ruin: The Civil Rights Act of 1875. Brill. ISBN9789004384071.
- Higginbotham, A. Leon Jr. (1998). 'The Supreme Court's Sanction of Racial Hatred: The 1883 Civil Rights Cases'. Shades of Freedom: Racial Politics and Presumptions of the American Legal Process. Oxford University Press. pp. 94–107. ISBN9780198028673.
- Howard, John R. (1999). The Shifting Wind: The Supreme Court and Civil Rights from Reconstruction to Brown. New York: State University of New York Press. pp. 66–68. ISBN9780791440896.
- Sandoval-Strausz, A. K. (2007). 'Accommodating Jim Crow: The Law of Hospitality and the Struggle for Civil Rights'. Hotel: An American History. Yale University Press. pp. 284–311. ISBN9780300106169.
- Tsesis, Alexander (2010). ''Badges and Incidents of Slavery' In the Supreme Court'. The Promises of Liberty: The History and Contemporary Relevance of the Thirteenth Amendment. Columbia University Press. pp. 172–181. ISBN9780231141444.
- Wilson, Kirt H. (2002). The Reconstruction Desegregation Debate: The Politics of Equality and the Rhetoric of Place, 1870-1875. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. ISBN9780870136177.
- Wynn, Linda T. (2009). 'Civil Rights Act of 1875'. In Jessie Carney Smith, Linda T. Wynn (ed.). Freedom Facts and Firsts: 400 Years of the African American Civil Rights Experience. Visible Ink Press. pp. 165–167. ISBN9781578592609.
Dissertations and theses[edit]
- Lionel Rowe, Robert Lionel (1974). State Response to the Civil Right Issue, 1883-1885 (M.A. thesis). Portland State University. OCLC40319075.
- Luckett, Barbara N. (1972). The Civil Rights Act of 1875: A Failure Reconsidered. (M.A. thesis) University of Nebraska at Omaha. OCLC14633686.
- Weaver, Valerie Whittemore (1966). The Civil Rights Act of 1875: Reactions and Enforcement (M.A. thesis). University of California. OCLC920414960.
- White, Carolyn Iona (1971). Georgia's Reaction to the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and the Civil Rights Cases of 1883 (M.A. thesis). Atlanta University. OCLC889990672.
Journals[edit]
- Avins, Alfred (May 1966). 'The Civil Rights Act of 1875: Some Reflected Light on the Fourteenth Amendment and Public Accommodations'. Columbia Law Review. 66: 873–915. doi:10.2307/1121057.
- François, Anderson Bellegarde (Winter 2014). 'The Brand of Inferiority: The Civil Rights Act of 1875, White Supremacy, and Affirmative Action'. Howard Law Journal. 57 (2): 573–599.
- Gudridge, Patrick O. (April 1989). 'Privileges and Permissions: The Civil Rights Act of 1875'. Law and Philosophy. 8 (1): 83–130. doi:10.2307/3504632.
- Jager, Ronald B. (September 1969). 'Charles Sumner, the Constitution, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875'. The New England Quarterly. 42 (3): 350–372. doi:10.2307/363614.
- Kaczorowski, Robert J. (February 1987). 'To Begin the Nation Anew: Congress, Citizenship, and Civil Rights after the Civil War'. The American Historical Review. 92 (1): 45–68. doi:10.2307/1862782.
- McPherson, James M. (December 1965). 'Abolitionists and the Civil Rights Act of 1875'. Journal of American History. 52 (3): 493–510. doi:10.2307/1890844.
- Murphy, L.E. (April 1927). 'The Civil Rights Law of 1875'. Journal of Negro History. 12 (2): 110–127. doi:10.2307/2714050.
- Spackman, S. G. F. (December 1976). 'American Federalism and the Civil Rights Act of 1875'. Journal of American Studies. 10 (3): 313–328. doi:10.1017/s0021875800003182.
- Weaver, Valeria W. (October 1969). 'The Failure of Civil Rights 1875–1883 and its Repercussions'. Journal of Negro History. 54 (4): 368–382. doi:10.2307/2716730.
- Wyatt-Brown, Bertram (December 1965). 'The Civil Rights Act of 1875'. Western Political Quarterly. 18 (4): 763–765. doi:10.1177/106591296501800403.
External links[edit]
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Congressional Records[edit]
- Congressional Record: Congressional Globe (1833-1873) Provides an index to the 'History of Senate Bills and Joint Resolutions' for Senate bill S. 1 during 1873. Retrieved November 18, 2012
- Congressional Record: House Proceedings, 1874 Provides an index to the 'History of Senate Bills and Joint Resolutions' for House bill H.R. 796 during 1874. Retrieved November 18, 2012
Other[edit]
- Benjamin F. Butler, 'Civil Rights: Speech of Hon. Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, in the House of Representatives, January 7, 1874,' From the Digital Archive Collections of the Mount St. Mary's University. Retrieved October 15, 2014
- 'Civil Rights Bill of 1875', The Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood: Legislative Interests Provides a detailed description of the history of the bill from 1870 until its passage by Congress in 1875. Retrieved November 18, 2012
- History Crush: Charles Sumner, Prologue: Pieces of History, The National Archives.gov Provides a short biographical account of Sen. Charles Sumner including details surrounding his efforts to pass the Civil Rights bill in Congress. Includes images of Sumner, personal documents, and bill S. 1 that would later lead to the Civil Rights Act of 1875. Retrieved November 18, 2012
- Summary of Constitutional Amendments and Major Civil Rights Acts passed by Congress Part of the Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2007 series. Provided by the Office of History and Preservation under the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved November 18, 2012
- 'The Trouble has Commenced - A Tale of Anxiety' by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly. From The New York Times 'On This Day' series. Recounts the events on the floor of the House in the United States Congress involving the Civil Rights Bill on February 27, 1875. Retrieved March 16, 2013
- 'How Some People Regard the Passage of the Civil Rights Bill' Published in the Daily Graphic on March 3, 1875. From the Old Fulton website. Presents a detractors view on the outcome of the Civil Right Bill. Retrieved July 5, 2014
- Digitized image of Charles Sumners' senate bill S. 1 as introduced during the 43rd United States Congress. From the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved May 18, 2015
- 'Some Memories of A Long Life'[dead link] An excerpt from the memoir of Malvina Shanklin Harlan, the wife of Justice John Marshall Harlan. The excerpt chronicles the effort that Justice Harlan placed into writing an opinion for the Civil Rights Cases (1883). From the Library of Congress. Retrieved May 18, 2015
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