Civil Rights Act of 1866

1866-04-09

First United States federal law to define citizenship and affirm that all citizens are equally protected by law, enacted 9 April 1866 chiefly to protect the civil rights of African Americans in the wake of the Civil War. Congress passed it twice over President Andrew Johnson's veto, mustering a two-thirds majority in each chamber. Following the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868, Congress reenacted the law in 1870.