Civil Rights Act of 1957

Civil Rights Act of 1957
U.S. Government · Public domain · source
Shorttitle	Civil Rights Act of 1957
Longtitle	An Act to provide means of further securing and protecting the civil rights of persons within the jurisdiction of the United States.
Enacted by	85th
Effective	September 9, 1957
Public law	85-315
Statutes at large	71, 634
Introducedin	House
Introducedbill	H.R. 6127
Introducedby	Rep. Emanuel Celler (D-NY)
Committees	House Judiciary
Passedbody1	House
Passeddate1	June 18, 1957
Passedvote1	286–126
Passedbody2	Senate
Passeddate2	August 7, 1957
Passedvote2	72–18
Signedpresident	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Signeddate	September 9, 1957

Civil Rights Act of 1957 The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress since the Reconstruction era. Signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, its primary aim was to protect the voting rights of African Americans, particularly in the Southern United States. While its immediate impact was limited by political compromise and resistance, the act established critical legal and institutional frameworks that became foundational for the more sweeping Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Background and legislative history

The push for federal civil rights legislation in the 1950s was driven by a confluence of factors. The Great Migration had increased the political power of Black voters in northern cities, making civil rights a national electoral issue. Landmark legal victories, most notably the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, creating momentum for federal action. However, Southern Democrats, led by powerful senators like Richard Russell Jr. of Georgia and Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, formed a conservative coalition that fiercely opposed any federal intervention in state affairs, which they denounced as a threat to states' rights.

The legislative effort was championed by Attorney General Herbert Brownell Jr., who drafted the initial bill for the Eisenhower administration. In the House, the bill was managed by Judiciary Committee Chairman Emanuel Celler. The political calculus was complex: President Eisenhower, though not a passionate crusader for civil rights, believed in the constitutional principle of voting rights and sought to bolster the Republican Party's appeal to Black voters. The bill faced its greatest challenge in the Senate, where the filibuster was a primary tool of the Dixiecrat opposition.

Provisions of the act

The final act, significantly weakened from its original form, contained several key provisions. Its central component was the creation of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, a bipartisan, fact-finding body tasked with investigating allegations of voter discrimination. The act also established a Civil Rights Division within the Department of Justice, headed by an Assistant Attorney General, to enforce federal civil rights laws.

Most importantly, the act empowered the Attorney General to seek federal court injunctions against any person or official who interfered with an individual's right to vote in federal elections. This was a direct, though limited, federal tool to combat practices like literacy tests and intimidation at the polls. Notably, the act's criminal penalties for obstructing voting rights were removed during Senate debate, and the provision for jury trials in criminal contempt cases was added, a concession to southern senators that severely hampered enforcement, as all-white juries in the South were unlikely to convict.

Passage and political context

The passage of the act was a protracted political battle dominated by the Senate. The most famous obstructionist was Senator Strom Thurmond, who staged the longest one-person filibuster in Senate history at that time, speaking for 24 hours and 18 minutes in August 1957 in an attempt to kill the bill. The Senate Majority Leader, Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, played a pivotal and complex role. A southern politician with presidential ambitions, Johnson used his formidable legislative skills to navigate a compromise that would allow a bill to pass without causing a total rupture in the Democratic Party.

Johnson's strategy involved brokering the compromises that weakened the bill's enforcement mechanisms, notably the jury trial amendment. This secured enough votes from moderate Republicans and western Democrats to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to invoke cloture and end the filibuster. The bill passed the Senate 72–18 and was signed by President Eisenhower on September 9, 1957. The political maneuvering demonstrated the deep sectional divide in American politics and set the stage for Johnson's later, more robust advocacy for civil rights as president.

Enforcement and the Civil Rights Commission

Initial enforcement of the act's voting rights provisions proved difficult. The first case brought under the new law was against voting registrars in Terrell County, Georgia. The challenges were immense, as the requirement for jury trials in contempt cases often nullified the Justice Department's efforts. However, the newly created institutions became vital.

The Civil Rights Commission quickly established itself as an authoritative source of information. Holding hearings across the South, it compiled extensive, well-documented evidence of systematic disenfranchisement and violence, which it presented to the President and Congress. Its reports, such as the 1959 report on voting rights, provided the factual and moral foundation that helped shift public opinion and build the case for stronger future legislation. The Civil Rights Division also began developing the legal expertise and institutional capacity that would be crucial in the 1960s.

Impact and legacy

The immediate tangible impact of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 on Black voter registration was modest. Southern resistance remained formidable, and the law's enforcement teeth had been pulled. However, its historical significance is profound. It broke an 82-year legislative logjam on civil rights, re-establishing the federal government's role as a guarantor of civil rights after decades of acquiescence to Jim Crow laws.

The act created the essential institutional architecture—the Civil Rights Commission and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division—that would be used to great effect in subsequent years. It also marked a critical political shift, demonstrating that civil rights legislation could pass Congress despite a southern filibuster. The act served as a direct precursor and catalyst for the far more effective Civil Rights Act of 1964, which addressed public accommodations and employment, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which finally secured federal oversight of elections. Furthermore, the legislative battle elevated then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson and solidified his commitment to civil rights, which he would later champion as president.