Enforcement Acts
Encyclopedia
The Enforcement Acts in the United States
were four acts passed from 1870 to 1871 that were meant to protect rights of all blacks following ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
as part of Reconstruction, which entitled freedmen and all others born in the United States to full citizenship.
The first act protected black voting by prohibiting the use of violence to prevent blacks from voting. Another provided for federal supervision of southern elections. The Ku Klux Klan Act passed in 1871 strengthened sanctions against those who attacked freedmen or prevented them from voting. By making such activities a federal crime, if states failed to protect freedmen, the federal government could intervene with troops on their behalf. It allowed the government to suspend habeas corpus
. Intended to suppress the Klan, the KKK act helped reduce violence against freedmen for a time.
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Relates to the Supreme Court case Ex parte Yarbrough.
The Enforcement Act of 1870, which targeted the violence caused by the Ku Klux Klan in the post-Civil War South, prohibited the use of violence or intimidation to prevent freedmen from voting. In 1883, eight Georgia men, including Dilmus, James, Jasper, and Neal Yarbrough, were charged under the Enforcement Act with intimidating Berry Saunders, an African American, to prevent him from voting in the 1882 congressional election. The eight were convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. Following their conviction, the eight men filed petitions for writs of habeas corpus on the ground that Congress had no authority to pass the Enforcement Act.
Conclusion:
Yes. In a unanimous opinion written by Justice Samuel Freeman Miller
, the US Supreme Court concluded that the federal government "must have the power to protect the elections on which its existence depends from violence and corruption." After noting that the implied powers of the Constitution are "as much a part of the instrument as what is expressed," Justice Miller wrote that the Necessary and Proper Clause of Article I, Section 8, in conjunction with Article I, Section 4, which provides that "Congress may at any time make or alter" regulations regarding the "times, places, and manner of holding elections," granted Congress the necessary authority to pass the Enforcement Act.
Additionally, the Court found additional defense of Congress' authority in the enforcement provision of the Fifteenth Amendment. The Court determined that "this fifteenth article of amendment does…substantially confer on the negro the right to vote, and Congress has the power to protect and enforce that right."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
were four acts passed from 1870 to 1871 that were meant to protect rights of all blacks following ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
as part of Reconstruction, which entitled freedmen and all others born in the United States to full citizenship.
The first act protected black voting by prohibiting the use of violence to prevent blacks from voting. Another provided for federal supervision of southern elections. The Ku Klux Klan Act passed in 1871 strengthened sanctions against those who attacked freedmen or prevented them from voting. By making such activities a federal crime, if states failed to protect freedmen, the federal government could intervene with troops on their behalf. It allowed the government to suspend habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
. Intended to suppress the Klan, the KKK act helped reduce violence against freedmen for a time.
----
Relates to the Supreme Court case Ex parte Yarbrough.
- Facts of the Case:
The Enforcement Act of 1870, which targeted the violence caused by the Ku Klux Klan in the post-Civil War South, prohibited the use of violence or intimidation to prevent freedmen from voting. In 1883, eight Georgia men, including Dilmus, James, Jasper, and Neal Yarbrough, were charged under the Enforcement Act with intimidating Berry Saunders, an African American, to prevent him from voting in the 1882 congressional election. The eight were convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. Following their conviction, the eight men filed petitions for writs of habeas corpus on the ground that Congress had no authority to pass the Enforcement Act.
- The question:
- Did Congress have the authority to pass the Enforcement Act of 1870?
Conclusion:
Yes. In a unanimous opinion written by Justice Samuel Freeman Miller
Samuel Freeman Miller
Samuel Freeman Miller was an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1862–1890. He was a physician and lawyer.-Early life and education:...
, the US Supreme Court concluded that the federal government "must have the power to protect the elections on which its existence depends from violence and corruption." After noting that the implied powers of the Constitution are "as much a part of the instrument as what is expressed," Justice Miller wrote that the Necessary and Proper Clause of Article I, Section 8, in conjunction with Article I, Section 4, which provides that "Congress may at any time make or alter" regulations regarding the "times, places, and manner of holding elections," granted Congress the necessary authority to pass the Enforcement Act.
Additionally, the Court found additional defense of Congress' authority in the enforcement provision of the Fifteenth Amendment. The Court determined that "this fifteenth article of amendment does…substantially confer on the negro the right to vote, and Congress has the power to protect and enforce that right."
External links
- "Enforcement Acts", PBS
- Review and text of the four Acts
- http://oyez.org/cases/1851-1900/1883/1883_4"Ex parte Yarbrough , 11