Changes

== History ==

== History ==

42 U.S.C. § 1981 was originally adopted by Congress immediately after the Civil War on April 9, 1866. It was enacted by virtue of the Thirteenth Amendment and was intended to rectify some of the disabilities of slavery. Ex parte Virginia, 100 U.S. 339, 25 L. Ed. 676 (1879); United States v. Harris, 106 U.S. 629, 27 L. Ed. 290, 1 S. Ct. 601 (1883); Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. 36, 21 L. Ed. 394 (1872)(Act enacted to guarantee certain privileges and immunities to eliminate vestiges of involuntary servitude). "The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was the first federal statute to provide broad protection in the field of civil rights. Its purpose was to give the newly emancipated Negro equality with whites before the law." Bernard Schwartz, Statutory History of the United States: Civil Rights Vol. 1, p.99 (1970). The original statute provided that persons "born in the United States, 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, except as punishment for a crime where the party shall have been duly convicted, 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 inherent, 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 persons and property, as is enjoyed by white citizens…" The purpose of the original legislation was to promote equality it did not create or relate to political rights.

42 U.S.C. § 1981 was originally adopted by Congress immediately after the Civil War on April 9, 1866. It was enacted by virtue of the Thirteenth Amendment and was intended to rectify some of the disabilities of slavery. Ex parte Virginia, 100 U.S. 339, 25 L. Ed. 676 (1879); United States v. Harris, 106 U.S. 629, 27 L. Ed. 290, 1 S. Ct. 601 (1883); Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. 36, 21 L. Ed. 394 (1872)(Act enacted to guarantee certain privileges and immunities to eliminate vestiges of involuntary servitude). "The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was the first federal statute to provide broad protection in the field of civil rights. Its purpose was to give the newly emancipated Negro equality with whites before the law." Bernard Schwartz, Statutory History of the United States: Civil Rights Vol. 1, p. 99 (1970). The original statute provided that persons "born in the United States, 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, except as punishment for a crime where the party shall have been duly convicted, 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 inherent, 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 persons and property, as is enjoyed by white citizens…" The purpose of the original legislation was to promote equality it did not create or relate to political rights.

In 1991 Congress reenacted the statute with amendments which expand on the limiting interpretive decision of the United States Supreme Court in Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio, 490 U.S. 642, 104 L. Ed. 2d 733, 109 S. Ct. 2115 (1989). The requirement of citizen standing was eliminated and the statute was modernized and expanded as to contractual rights. The essence of the statute in its relevant part is similar to the 1866 statute.

In 1991 Congress reenacted the statute with amendments which expand on the limiting interpretive decision of the United States Supreme Court in Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio, 490 U.S. 642, 104 L. Ed. 2d 733, 109 S. Ct. 2115 (1989). The requirement of citizen standing was eliminated and the statute was modernized and expanded as to contractual rights. The essence of the statute in its relevant part is similar to the 1866 statute.

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[[category:Section 1981]]

[[Category:Section 1981]]

[[category:Section 1983]]

[[Category:Section 1983]]