Congress and Civil Rights

Johnson's veto of these measures moved many moderates into the radical camp, and inaugurated a bitter conflict over control of Reconstruction policy, which culminated in 1868 when he was nearly removed from office by impeachment.

In 1866, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act over Johnson's veto, and proceeded to approve the Fourteenth Amendment, which forbade states to deprive any citizen of the "equal protection of the laws," the first Constitutional guarantee of the principle of equal civil rights regardless of race.

Read the 14th Amendment
Read the Civil Rights Bill of 1866

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This was a major change in the federal system, establishing the national government as the arbiter of citizens' rights, and empowering it to overturn discriminatory measures adopted by state governments.

The Civil Rights Bill was the first major law in American history to be passed over a presidential veto.

In 1870, the last of the Reconstruction-era Constitutional Amendments was ratified -- the Fifteenth Amendment, which prohibited states from abridging the right to vote because of race.

Read the 15th Amendment