Full Description
The Declaration of Independence stated that all men are created equal, yet the long and continuing struggle for civil rights in the United States seems to indicate otherwise. This reference guide details the most critical civil rights laws in U.S. history, moving from the period of slavery, to the Civil War, to the Reconstruction, to the civil rights era of the mid- to late-20th century. An overview essay introduces each period, and 36 individual laws are examined in essays placing the bills in their historical contexts. Each law is then presented in an edited and, when appropriate, annotated form, so students can read and understand the actual words of the law.
Many of the notable and notorious laws in U.S. legislative history have come in the area of civil rights. Among these are the Fugitive Slave Act, the Missouri Compromise, the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Acts of 1965. This uncommonly helpful guide to U.S. civil rights legislation also includes timelines, a bibliography, and an index.
Contents
Introduction The Slavery Period Introduction 1776 Articles of Confederation 1776 Declaration of Independence 1787 Northwest Ordinance 1787 United States Constitution 1793 Fugitive Slave Act 1807 Slave Importation Act 1819 Missouri Compromise 1850 Compromise of 1850 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act 1861 Constitution of the Confederate States of America 1861 Confiscation Act 1863 Emancipation Proclamation Postwar Reconstruction 1865 Freedmen's Bureau 1865 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution 1866 Civil Rights Act 1867 Reconstruction Act 1868 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution 1870 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution 1870 Enforcement Act 1871 Klan Act 1875 Civil Rights Act Civil Rights Era Introduction 1941 Executive Order 8802 1946 Executive Order 9808 1948 Executive Order 9980 1948 Executive Order 9981 1957 Executive Order 10730 1957 Civil Rights Act 1960 Civil Rights Act 1961 Executive Order 10925 1962 Executive Order 11053 1962 Executive Order 11063 1964 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution 1964 Civil Rights Act 1965 Voting Rights Act 1965 Executive Order 11246 1968 Fair Housing Act Bibliography Index