Civil Rights Act 1866
An Act to protect all
Persons in the United States in their Civil Rights, and furnish the Means of
their Vindication.
Be it enacted by the
Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled,
That all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign
power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the
United States; and such citizens, of every race and color, without regard to
any previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude…shall have the same
right, in every State and Territory in the United States, to make and enforce
contracts, to sue, be parties, and give evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease,
sell, hold, and convey real and personal property, and to full and equal
benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property, as
is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains,
and penalties, and to none other, any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or
custom, to the contrary notwithstanding.
SEC. 2. And be it
further enacted, That any person who…shall subject, or cause to be
subjected, any inhabitant of any State or Territory to the deprivation of any
right secured…by this act, or to different punishment, pains, or penalties on
account of such person having at any time been held in a condition of slavery or
involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted, or by reason of his color or race, than is prescribed
for the punishment of white persons, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor,
and, on conviction, shall be punished by fine not exceeding one
thousand dollars, or
imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.…