sep 9, 1957 - President Eisenhower
signs the Civil Rights Act
Description:
By 1957, the Supreme Court had taken action on AA civil rights, but the other 2 parts of government - the President and Congress - had yet to act
Democratic President Truman had attempted to get a civil rights bill passed in 1948, but it had been blocked by Republicans (on party grounds) and Dixiecrats (strongly pro-segregation)
Truman was replaced by Republican President Eisenhower in 1952, who declared himself to be in support of AA civil rights
However, he seemed unwilling to act. Like many politicians, he believed that changing the law would not really work until people’s attitudes towards AAs changed
He was also aware of how strongly people valued ‘states’ rights’ and didn’t want Federal Government to interfere in what was seen as states’ affairs
However, the achievements of Browns vs Topeka and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, plus the extreme violent reactions to them, put pressure on the president and Congress for a Federal law to help AAs achieve civil rights
A bill was introduced in 1956, but was not passed because of Souther Resistance
Strom Thurmond, a leading Dixiecrat, filibustered (delayed the bill) for an astonishing 24 hours and 18 mins, so the bill took longer than the time allowed and was rejected
Eisenhower’s administration tried again in 1957 with a revised version
Again, Dixiecrats tried to delay and destroy the bill but, partly due to the work of Lyndon Johnson, the Democrats’ leader in the Senate, a weakened version of the bill was finally passed
President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act on 9 September 1957, where the act focused on trying to improve the number of AA voters by:
Setting up the US Commission on Civil Rights, which began investigating how AAs were prevented from voting in different places
Allowing Federal Courts to prosecute states who tried to prevent people from voting
Added to timeline:
USA 1945 - 1974
Date:
