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The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Making Our Nation Whole

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Republican Senators during a meeting on amendments to the Civil Rights Act, 1964
Senators during a meeting on amendments to the Civil Rights Act, 1964

When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law on July 2, 1964, he said that “the purpose of the law is simple. It does not restrict the freedom of any American, so long as he respects the rights of others.”

The act was a major turning point in U.S. history. It moved toward ending the Jim Crow laws that had held sway in many areas of the U.S. for years, and paved the way for future reform legislation.

But while the purpose of the law might have been simple, the act itself was not. As one of the most ambitious pieces of civil rights legislation since the Reconstruction era, it addressed inequality in many different areas of American life.

It prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin in many businesses. It called for the desegregation of public schools. It outlawed segregation in hotels, theaters, restaurants, and many other public spaces. It eliminated the discriminatory use of voter registration requirements.

As the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 draws near, this blog will take a closer look at several important sections of the act through primary sources, using historical artifacts to explore the aspects of life under legal segregation that the act was meant to improve.

These Library of Congress resources provide in-depth background information on the civil rights era, and on the activists whose work helped bring civil rights legislation into being.

What questions do your students have about the civil rights era? What topics would you like to see us explore?

Update: This series now includes the following posts:

 

Comments (7)

  1. I do believe you meant the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. 1964 – 2014….

  2. Based on truth civil rights acts proved no state should deprive us of liberty property ans life without due process of laws “nor” should they deny us jurisdiction the equal protection of laws. Says any person can sued under (Color of Law) they should be strip from there duty so explain why would State Of Texas or any nation allowed Child Protective Service , judges, and attorney get away crime. This is serious crime child trafficking in court system is this what are nation become greed to point they deny parents our rights to fair trial and sale innocent children. For TITLE IV-E AND TITLE IV-B hard workinv money of citizens we all knowingly its not legal but if everyone hides the truth this is injustice as well cruel punishment to familys.

  3. Because we’re at the elementary level, our youngest students usually do some type of exploration with school segregation. The use of primary sources has been invaluable in giving them an opportunity to put themselves in the moment and make a comparison to their current life. Their questions, therefore, usually revolve around school segregation and the lives of children during the Civil Rights Era.

    They also have questions based on events or settings in historical fiction picture books that take place during the Civil Rights Era or books that show discrimination prior to the Civil Rights Era such as Finding Lincoln (segregated libraries) and Ruth and the Green Book.

  4. Helpful

  5. i think his dream speach is good and how it talks about race sex and color it just tells a lot about the things they had to go through after slavery and they still didnt have freedom.

  6. I think that Martin Luther’s “I have a dream” speech delivers a powerful topic that African Americans in that time faced. I also like how that speech delivered peaceful points that could be done easily like people of different colors living in harmony.

  7. His speech is very inspiring.

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