Book contents
- Civil Rights in America
- Cambridge Studies on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
- Civil Rights in America
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1 The Birth of Civil Rights – Reconstruction
- 2 The Transformation of Civil Rights – The Jim Crow Years
- 3 Civil Rights Reborn – The 1940s and 1950s
- 4 Beyond Civil Rights – The 1960s
- 5 Getting Right with the Civil Rights Movement
- 6 Civil Rights Everywhere
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Index
1 - The Birth of Civil Rights – Reconstruction
Civil Rights vs. Political Rights
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 December 2020
- Civil Rights in America
- Cambridge Studies on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
- Civil Rights in America
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1 The Birth of Civil Rights – Reconstruction
- 2 The Transformation of Civil Rights – The Jim Crow Years
- 3 Civil Rights Reborn – The 1940s and 1950s
- 4 Beyond Civil Rights – The 1960s
- 5 Getting Right with the Civil Rights Movement
- 6 Civil Rights Everywhere
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Index
Summary
“What are civil rights?” James F. Wilson asked his colleagues in the United States House of Representatives on March 1, 1866. Less than a year since the end of the Civil War, with Congress consumed with the task of reconstructing a nation torn apart, the Iowa Republican stood on the floor of the House to defend what was referred to as the “Civil Rights” bill. The proposed law – its full title was “An Act to protect all Persons in the United States in their Civil Rights, and furnish the Means of their vindication” – would provide federal protection of certain basic rights for the millions of recently emancipated black Americans.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Civil Rights in AmericaA History, pp. 11 - 31Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020