ABSTRACT
Republican concerns about the constitutionality of the act, as well as the threat of repeal when contentious Southern Democrats returned to Congress, were the motives behind the decision to incorporate its provisions into a new constitutional amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment was drafted to include the essential provisions of the Civil Rights Act, specifically those guaranteeing citizenship, due process, and equality under law. Within a year after the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified, freedmen realized that little had changed in their lives. In the year of 1866 the Republican radicals in Congress seized the initiative, intent on restoring civil order in the South. To their dismay, Southern Democrats found themselves, after nearly a year of having things their own way, confronting Republicans committed to serious reform. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was the last attempt by Congress to impede the advance of this virulent new strain of racial oppression that had replaced slavery.
