Civil Rights Act | Summary, Facts, President, & History (2024)

FAQs

Civil Rights Act | Summary, Facts, President, & History? ›

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was intended to end discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin in the United States. The act gave federal law enforcement agencies the power to prevent racial discrimination in employment, voting, and the use of public facilities.

The act outlawed segregation in businesses such as theaters, restaurants, and hotels. It banned discriminatory practices in employment and ended segregation in public places such as swimming pools, libraries, and public schools.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing.

Sixty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law one of the most significant pieces of civil rights legislation in history — the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

This is the story of how Lyndon Johnson set the stage for this legislation years before and how he choreographed passage of this historic measure in 1964—a year when the civil rights movement was rapidly gaining strength and when racial unrest was playing a role in the presidential campaign.

Our country's Constitution and federal laws contain critical protections that form the foundation of our inclusive society – the right to be free from discrimination, the freedom to worship as we choose, the right to vote for our elected representatives, the protections of due process, the right to privacy.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 hastened the end of legal Jim Crow. It secured African Americans equal access to restaurants, transportation, and other public facilities. It enabled blacks, women, and other minorities to break down barriers in the workplace.

After Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed the bill forward. The United States House of Representatives passed the bill on February 10, 1964, and after a 72-day filibuster, it passed the United States Senate on June 19, 1964.

The civil rights movement became necessary because of the failure of Reconstruction (1865–77), which, by way of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments, had provided constitutional guarantees of the legal and voting rights of formerly enslaved people.

In this capacity, Celler strengthened and broadened President Kennedy's civil rights bill and worked with Representative William McCulloch (R-OH) to successfully shepherd the bill through the House. Celler was the author of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960.

Who fought for Civil Rights Act? ›

Johnson pressed hard in the U.S. Congress, with support of the NAACP, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the U.S. Justice Department, and key members of Congress such as Hubert Humphrey (D-MN), Everett Dirksen (R-IL), Emanuel Celler (D-NY), and William McCulloch (R-OH), to secure the bill's passage.

With six wavering senators providing a four-vote margin of victory, the final tally stood at 71 to 29—27 Republicans and 44 Democrats joined forces to support cloture. They were opposed by nay votes from six Republicans and 21 Democrats. The Senate's civil rights proponents had achieved a remarkable victory.

On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the civil rights bill into law in a White House ceremony.

Other Facts

The act had the longest filibuster in US Senate history, and after the long civil rights struggle, the Senate passed the act 73-27 in July 1964. It became law less than a year after President John F. Kennedy's assassination. More Republicans voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act than Democrats.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was intended to end discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin in the United States. The act gave federal law enforcement agencies the power to prevent racial discrimination in employment, voting, and the use of public facilities.

Kennedy pushed to action by black activists, proposed a sweeping federal civil rights bill in 1963. Ascending to the presidency after JFK's assassination, Johnson shepherded the legislation through Congress and signed it into law as the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Civil rights are important because they protect everyone. They ensure that each individual is protected from discrimination (unequal treatment) and that citizens enjoy “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” as promised in the Declaration of Independence.

Examples of civil rights include the right to vote, the right to a fair trial, the right to government services, the right to a public education, the right to gainful employment, the right to housing, the right to use public facilities, freedom of religion.