Civil Right Acts of 1866 and 1871 - Research Paper Example

: Civil Rights Act of 1866 and 1971 (U.S.A) Introduction The first legislative attempts to ensure equal rights for African Americans were the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and 1871 in the U.S (Kaczorowski 3). These laws were enacted after the Civil War in order to secure the rights of citizenship for the emancipated blacks. The civil rights Act of 1886 stated that all persons born within United States and such citizens of every race and color without regard to their previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except for punishments for crime where the party shall have been duly convicted, shall have the same right, in every State or territory in the America to make and enforce contracts, to sue or give evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold or convey real or personal property (Scheb 370). The Act also guaranteed full and equal benefits to all persons regarding the laws and proceedings for the security of the persons or property which is enjoyed by the white persons (Scheb 370). The white persons also would be subject to punishment, pains and penalties as long as there was no any other contradicting law, statute, regulation or custom (Kaczorowski 4). This research paper will review the Civil rights Act of 1866 and Civil rights Act of 1871 to establish its application in enforcing contractual obligations and the potential damages to the plaintiff. The paper will discuss several cases which have been filed in courts and the court decisions. The paper will also discuss the policy guidelines which issued by different agencies like Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor which have been issued with regard to the Civil rights Act of 1866 and Civil rights Act of 1871. While the Thirteenth Amendment of the constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for crime while the Civil Rights Act of 1866 guaranteed the rights of all citizens to make and enforce contracts and to purchase, sell or lease property. Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 provides for equal rights of all persons living in America to enforce the contracts without regard to race or color (Kaczorowski 4). The contracts include the employment relationships such as hiring, discharge and the terms and conditions of employment (Scheb 370). The Supreme Court provided that the Act prohibited retaliation against individuals who complain about racial discrimination and the Act was supposed to be enforced by all individuals and not a federal agency (Scheb 370). The civil rights Act of 1866 clarified that persons who denied these rights to former slaves were guilty of misdemeanor and upon their conviction they could pay a fine not exceeding $ 1,000 or imprisonment for one year or both punishments (Scheb 370). The civil rights act declared that infringement of those rights under color law or custom law was a federal crime. The Act only authorized the federal courts to punish and redress the wrongs but also provided for the removal of the court proceedings to the federal courts where the party claimed that he could not enforce or protect his rights in the State court (Scheb 370). Many Supreme Court and Appellate judges considered the Thirteenth Amendment which was aimed at abolishing slavery and guaranteeing civil rights to all citizens hence they upheld that all citizens had equal rights to sue or enforce contracts (Turner-Sadler 189). For instance, in the case of McCulloh V. Maryland, the judges held that civil rights had been recognized in the constitution (Kaczorowski 5). In the case of Jones V. Alfred Mayer (1968), the court agreed that the Civil rights Act of 1866 prohibited all the forms of discrimination against color or race in the sale or rental of property regardless of whether it is discrimination by pubic authorities or private owners hence the second clause of the Thirteenth Amendment had prohibited housing discrimination by private individuals (Turner-Sadler 190). The Civil Rights Act of 1871 is commonly referred as the Enforcement Act or the Ku Klux Klan Act since the sect was much responsible for the civil unrests which threatened the political and economic rights of the newly freed slaves (Amaker 9). Section 1983 of the Act provided for any person who had been deprived of his constitutional rights by another person who is acting on the color law (through legally granted authority or purporting act with such limits or misusing authority) or custom could sue such person in federal courts and recover damages. Section 3 of the Act authorized the President to use Armed Forces in ending the rebellions while section 5 provided that jurors in the courts must not be parties to the conspiracies and must swear on penalty of perjury that they did not have any allegiance to the groups dedicated to overthrown the government or deny some people their constitutional rights (Amaker 12). The Civil rights Act was occasioned by the findings that supremacy groups like Ku Klux Klan conducted brutal lynching of former slaves and denied them their civil rights under the civil rights Act of 1866 and the fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Even worrying, the state legal system was no committed to ending the lynching and other punishments which violated the constitution. In the slaughterhouse cases (1973), the courts held that only privileges and immunities were protected by the provision hence most civil rights were deemed to be privileges. In the Virginia V. Rives (1879) and United States V. Harris (1882), the Courts invalidated the criminal conspiracy section of the Act since the Act was designed to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment. This Act was amended later with various clauses like the Due process clause and Equal Protection Clause (Amaker 234). The Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1871 gives the basis for suing in tort claims like wrongful discharge from employment which violates public policy. In the case of Lockhart V. Commonwealth Education Systems Corporation (1994), Supreme Court upheld the public policy hence employers could not be dismissed at will since such discharges violates the personal freedoms, health, safety and property rights which are enshrined in the Civil rights Acts. According to the Civil Rights Acts, employees can sue for damages and compensation incase of wrongful dismissal from employment or termination of the employment contract without giving adequate notice to the employee. The employer should also ensure equal opportunities exist for all employees regardless of color, race or ethnicity in all the employment processes like recruitment, compensation and promotion (Burstein 287). Some agencies like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Department of Labor have issued guidelines on employment matters according to the provisions of these two laws. The EEOC is the federal agency which enforces the federal laws which prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex including pregnancy, age, disability or genetic information. The commission receives, investigates and resolves the suits which are filed against private employers, trade unions, States and the Local governments. According to EEOC, the law prohibits age discrimination especially for employees aged over 40 years in the hiring, promotion, training and firing (Buckley 87). EEOC advocates for equal and fair compensation and the prohibition of all forms of discrimination like discrimination on ethnic origin, race or color of the employee. The commission ensures employees receive fair dismissal and are compensated for damages from unfair termination of their employment contracts. The Department of Labor (DEO) calls for all employers to ensure affirmative action and prohibit all discriminations in the employment processes. Both EEOC and DEO agencies support the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1871 since their activities are geared at receiving and resolving all discrimination cases in the workplace according to the numerous Acts which outlaw such discrimination (Buckley 48). Conclusion Civil Rights Act of 1866 was aimed at ending all forms of discrimination on the basis of color and race and giving all the citizens the right to sue and enforce contractual obligations. The Act also gave all the citizens equal rights in ownership of property and in disposal of the property. The Act sought to enforce Thirteenth Amendment which ended slavery. Civil Rights Act of 1871 was occasioned by civil unrests and violence of some supremacy groups which were opposed to equal rights of the minority African American. The Act gave the president the right to use Armed forces in ending the rebellion and the rights of discriminated citizens to sue in federal courts regardless of the source of discrimination. Government agencies like Equal Employment Opportunity Commission handle the employment grievances on discrimination and issue policy guidelines to the employers on how to end discrimination and ensure affirmative action in the workplace. Works cited: Amaker, Norman. Civil rights and Reagan administration. Washington, DC. Urban Institute Press. 1988. Buckley, John. Equal employment opportunity compliance guide, 2011. New York. Panel Publishers. 2012. Burstein, Paul. Equal employment opportunity labor market discrimination and public policy. New York. DeGruyter. 1994. Kaczorowski, Robert. Department of justice, and civil rights, 1866-1876. New York. Fordham University Press. 2005. Scheb, John. An introduction to the American legal system. New York. Thomson Learning. 2002. Turner-Sadler, Joanne. African American History: an introduction. New York. Peter Lang. 2009. Read More