Why the civil acts rights of 1875 failed and the civil acts rights act Research Paper

Why the civil acts rights of 1875 failed and the civil acts rights act of 1964 succeeded - Research Paper Example Almost half of the country agreed to abolish slavery, wealthy owners of plantations in the southern States could not agree to such a loss of cheap workforce. People were exhausted by the Civil War lasting for four years. Economy of the country was also going down because of devastating effects of the Civil War. Big cities and small towns were damaged starting from houses and ending with roads and railroads. Introduced in 1870, the Civil Rights Act became a law only in 1875. Most of the Southern Republicans were against this law. However, it was pass According to the Civil Rights Act â€Å"equality of men before law† was recognized. One of the duties of government was â€Å"mete out equal and exact justice to all, of whatever nativity, race, color, or persuasion, religious or political†.1 Therefore, treating people equally in all the spheres of public activity and social life had to become one of the prerogatives of American society. However, not long after enactment of this law, in 1883, the Supreme Courte declared this law unconstitutional.2 This law offered by Senator Summers was one of the major effective actions of Reconstruction. Even though the Civil Rights Act of 1875 â€Å"outlawed racial segregation in public accommodations and prohibited the exclusion of blacks from jury duty†,3 it still was controversial in some aspects. First of all, the law did not include access of African Americans to many important public places such as schools, cemeteries, religious institutions, etc. Social rights of Americans became their civil rights according to the provisions of this law. Furthermore, this law allowed segregated schools rather than requiring mixed schooling. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was declared in the time of the social unrest. The major movement for social equality was initiated by Martin Luther King. Protesting men, women, and children were severely beaten by police in Birmingham, Alabama. American president John F. Kennedy was greatly