Congress and the First Civil Rights Era, 1861-1918

Civil rights legislation figured prominently in the agenda of Congress after the Civil War and during Reconstruction. But, as Reconstruction came to an end and legal and social discrimination against African Americans became widespread, civil rights was no longer seen as a Congressional priority. In this book, the first of a two-volume set, Jeffery A. Jenkins and Justin Peck explore the hereto mostly unexamined history of the rise and fall of civil rights legislation in Congress from 1861 to 1918. The authors argue that the waxing and waning of civil rights efforts in Congress is directly tied to whether African American voters were able to influence Congressional elections. As long as African American voters could deliver seats in the south to the Republicans, the party paid attention to their needs. But, after the end of Reconstruction and with the disenfranchisement of African Americans, Congressional Republicans lost interest in civil rights laws.