photo #9043508

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: February 28, 1871 Republican Congress passes Enforcement Act providing federal protection for African-American voters The Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871 The adoption of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution extended civil and legal protections to former slaves and prohibited states from disenfranchising voters “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Forces in some states were at work, however, to deny black citizens their legal rights. Members of the Ku Klux Klan, for example, terrorized black citizens for exercising their right to vote, running for public office, and serving on juries. In response, Congress passed a series of Enforcement Acts in 1870 and 1871 (also known as the Force Acts) to end such violence and empower the president to use military force to protect African Americans. https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/EnforcementActs.htm