mar 31, 1870 - Enforcement Acts

Description:

A series of federal laws that:
-banned terrorism used to restrict voting rights based on skin color
-instituted a punishment for failure to comply with the 15th Amendment
-deployed US troops to Southern states in order to enforce the 15th Amendment
-suspended habeas corpus for these purposes

The second and third acts, passed in 1870 and 1871, were revisions to this law. The main part of the act was the third point, as it forced the South to allow blacks the right to vote. President Grant used the law to fine or imprison hundreds of Klansmen, managing to essentially destroy the organization. These troops were later recalled by President Hayes as per the Compromise of 1877.

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