ABSTRACT
The end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery legally freed the slaves but did not end the disparate treatment of whites and blacks in the United States. Civil Rights Cases, 109 US 3, was the nonstandard caption the US Supreme Court gave to several cases that it consolidated for decision. In an effort to secure to African Americans their full rights as citizens of the United States, the US Congress passed a series of civil rights acts, culminating in the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The Civil Rights Cases stemmed from a variety of violations of the act in widely separated parts of the nation. In a major setback for civil rights, Justice Joseph P. Bradley, writing for the Court, concluded that the legislation was unconstitutional. The Civil Rights Cases helped encourage the hardening of racial attitudes. So called Jim Crow laws were enacted, and African Americans were systematically excluded from enjoying the privileges of white Americans.
