The Civil Rights Act of 1875 (18 Stat. 335) was a United States federal law proposed by Republican Senator Charles Sumner and Republican Congressman Benjamin F. Butler in 1870, and was enacted on March 1, 1875. It guaranteed that everyone, regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, was entitled to the same treatment in "public accommodations" (i.e. inns, public conveyances on land or water, theaters, and other places of public amusement). The United States Supreme Court deemed the act unconstitutional in 1883, on the basis that Congress had no power to regulate the conduct of individuals (see Civil Rights Cases).

External links

• Text of the act, from Denver University

1875 in law | African-American history | Reconstruction | United States federal civil rights legislation | Civil Rights Act de 1875