Grant signs the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (1871)

President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Civil Rights Act of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, in April 1871. This legislation, authored by Benjamin Butler, aimed to combat Klan vigilantism by granting the president powers to suspend habeas corpus and deploy federal troops. The act was the third in a series of Enforcement Acts passed during Reconstruction to protect African American suffrage rights.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. The Civil Rights Act of 1871 was the last of three Enforcement Acts passed by Congress between 1870 and 1871. Its primary purpose was to combat the paramilitary vigilantism of the Ku Klux Klan and protect the suffrage rights of African Americans. The act was introduced in February 1871 by former Union general and Massachusetts congressman Benjamin Butler.

Legislative Process. The bill moved to the US Senate, where it was brought to a floor vote on April 14, 1871. The legislation granted the president the power to imprison people without a trial by suspending the writ of habeas corpus and to use the federal military on domestic soil to enforce constitutional rights. These provisions caused uproar among some newspapers and Democrats who claimed they centralized presidential power.

Enforcement and Legacy. Following the act's passage, President Grant invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807 to station federal troops in nine South Carolina counties after the Klan refused to dissolve. Although some provisions were ruled unconstitutional in 1883, the 1871 Civil Rights Act has been invoked in later civil rights conflicts, including the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.

People involved

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