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88-478: The Caucus was still active in 1964 when they tried and failed to derail the 1964 Civil Rights Act . The caucus was particularly interested in stopping federal legislation on Civil rights . The tone of the Southern Caucus was to be more moderate and reasonable so as not to alienate potential allies and to eschew the explicit white supremacism of Senators such as Tom Connally . The group first emerged as

176-415: A filibuster to prevent its passage. Russell proclaimed, "We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would tend to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our [Southern] states." Strong opposition to the bill also came from Senator Strom Thurmond , who was still a Democrat at the time: "This so-called Civil Rights Proposals [ sic ], which

264-581: A urological mystery". Thurmond took regular steam baths leading up to the filibuster to draw fluids out of his body, thus dehydrating himself and allowing himself to absorb fluids for a longer period of time during the filibuster. It has also been rumored within the African American community that Thurmond used other methods to avoid leaving for the restroom. The Chicago Defender stated that Thurmond had worn "a contraption devised for long motoring trips" that allowed him to relieve himself on

352-452: A walkout over civil rights at the 1948 Democratic National Convention , and ran against Harry S. Truman and Thomas E. Dewey as the new party's candidate in the 1948 presidential election . Thurmond garnered more than one million votes and won four states in this third-party presidential bid as a Dixiecrat . Six years later, Thurmond ran as a Democrat and was elected to the Senate as

440-420: A " cruel and unusual punishment ", and stated that he hoped to "educate the country" by means of an extended speech against the legislation. Senate rules allow for virtually unlimited debate on a bill, and a filibuster is a means of using these rules to prevent a bill's passage by speaking for as long as possible. At the time of Thurmond's filibuster, leaving the chamber or sitting down while speaking would end

528-771: A 72-day filibuster, it passed the United States Senate on June 19, 1964. The final vote was 290–130 in the House of Representatives and 73–27 in the Senate. After the House agreed to a subsequent Senate amendment, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law by President Johnson at the White House on July 2, 1964. In the 1883 landmark Civil Rights Cases , the United States Supreme Court had ruled that Congress did not have

616-416: A Democrat and staunch segregationist from Virginia , indicated his intention to keep the bill bottled up indefinitely. The assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, changed the political situation. Kennedy's successor as president, Lyndon B. Johnson , made use of his experience in legislative politics, along with the bully pulpit he wielded as president, in support of

704-467: A Senator once recognized can speak for as long as they wish, meant that Bills that had support from other branches of the government, and even from the majority of Senators could be held up for a very long time by a determined minority - and importantly block other bills and finance measures. This device, the filibuster , was used effectively by the Southern Caucus to deny a number of civil rights Bills passage into law. The Georgia Senator Richard Russell

792-469: A case without a jury if doing so made a second trial more likely. Thurmond and other Southern senators saw the provision as a violation of the defendant's right to a trial by jury, which is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution . Thurmond had been significantly involved in politics before his senatorship: he had served as Governor of South Carolina , helped to found the States' Rights Democratic Party after

880-604: A coalition of 70 liberal and labor organizations. The principal lobbyists for the Leadership Conference were civil rights lawyer Joseph L. Rauh Jr. and Clarence Mitchell Jr. of the NAACP. After the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , on August 28, 1963, the organizers visited Kennedy to discuss the civil rights bill. Roy Wilkins , A. Philip Randolph , and Walter Reuther attempted to persuade him to support

968-524: A compromise bill to be considered. On June 19, the president sent his bill to Congress as it was originally written, saying legislative action was "imperative". The president's bill went first to the House of Representatives , where it was referred to the Judiciary Committee , chaired by New York Democrat Emanuel Celler . After a series of hearings on the bill, Celler's committee strengthened

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1056-435: A filibuster on a civil rights bill, and only once in the 37 years since 1927 had it agreed to cloture for any measure. The most dramatic moment during the cloture vote came when Senator Clair Engle (D-CA) was wheeled into the chamber. Suffering from terminal brain cancer , unable to speak, he pointed to his left eye, signifying his affirmative " Aye " vote when his name was called. He died seven weeks later. On June 19,

1144-537: A long-term change in the demographics of the support for each. President Kennedy realized that supporting this bill would risk losing the South's overwhelming support of the Democratic Party. Both Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Vice President Johnson had pushed for the introduction of the civil rights legislation. Johnson told Kennedy aide Ted Sorensen that "I know the risks are great and we might lose

1232-648: A more formal group in a successful filibuster that blocked the Anti-Lynching Bill of 1937 . This had passed the House of Representatives and seemed to have majority support in the Senate. This was at the same time as other elements of President Franklin Roosevelt 's legislative program were meeting legislative obstacles thanks to the growth of a loose conservative coalition within Congress of Republicans as well as various more conservative sections of

1320-411: A non Southerner had been Majority Leader. In later life Johnson and a number of allies claimed that he had never been a member of the caucus, and when he attended meetings he would take pains to ensure that he was not publicly associated with it. However Russell claimed that Johnson had attended all meetings until he became Democratic Senate Leader when he stopped. 1964 Civil Rights Act This

1408-422: A particular provision in the bill that dealt with certain court cases, but opposed the entirety of the bill. Thurmond, an ardent segregationist , had served in the Senate for only three years before the speech, but was politically well-known even before his election to the body. Although the filibuster was supported by many South Carolinians and citizens of other Southern states , Thurmond's decision to filibuster

1496-696: A provision establishing a Fair Employment Practices Commission that would ban discriminatory practices by all federal agencies, unions, and private companies. Kennedy called the congressional leaders to the White House in late October 1963 to line up the necessary votes in the House for passage. The bill was reported out of the Judiciary Committee in November 1963 and referred to the Rules Committee , whose chairman, Howard W. Smith ,

1584-476: A reading of the election laws of each of the 48 states, and continued with readings from U.S. Supreme Court rulings, Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville , and George Washington's Farewell Address . The Senate chamber gallery, filled with hundreds of spectators at the beginning of the filibuster, dwindled to just NAACP lobbyist Clarence Mitchell Jr. and Thurmond's wife Jean at points during

1672-403: A senator's speech. A filibuster can also be ended by a cloture vote , which requires a certain percentage of senators to agree that a speech should be ended. At the time of Thurmond's speech, the threshold for cloture was a two-thirds majority. Thurmond holds the record for the longest solo filibuster, but longer filibusters have been carried out by groups of senators. Thurmond's filibuster

1760-496: A stronghold of the Republican Party by the 1990s. Although majorities in both parties voted for the bill, there were notable exceptions. Though he opposed forced segregation, Republican 1964 presidential candidate, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, voted against the bill, remarking, "You can't legislate morality." Goldwater had supported previous attempts to pass civil rights legislation in 1957 and 1960 as well as

1848-465: A substitute bill that they hoped would overcome it by combining a sufficient number of Republicans as well as core liberal Democrats. The compromise bill was weaker than the House version as to the government's power in regulating the conduct of private business, but not weak enough to make the House reconsider it. Senator Robert Byrd ended his filibuster in opposition to the bill on the morning of June 10, 1964, after 14 hours and 13 minutes. Up to then,

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1936-496: A supportive memorandum at the behest of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women . Griffiths also argued that the laws "protecting" women from unpleasant jobs were actually designed to enable men to monopolize those jobs, and that that was unfair to women who were not allowed to try out for those jobs. The amendment passed with the votes of Republicans and Southern Democrats. The final law passed with

2024-639: A violation [of the Constitution], because it would be handling the matter on the basis of race and we would be transporting children because of race." Javits said any government official who sought to use the bill for busing purposes "would be making a fool of himself," but two years later the Department of Health, Education and Welfare said that Southern school districts would be required to meet mathematical ratios of students by busing. The bill divided both major American political parties and engendered

2112-586: Is an accepted version of this page District of Columbia The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( Pub. L.   88–352 , 78  Stat.   241 , enacted July 2, 1964 ) is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race , color , religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations , and employment discrimination. The act "remains one of

2200-615: The 24th Amendment outlawing the poll tax . He stated that the reason for his opposition to the 1964 bill was Title II, which in his opinion violated individual liberty and states' rights . Democrats and Republicans from the Southern states opposed the bill and led an unsuccessful 60 working day filibuster, including Senators Albert Gore, Sr. (D-TN) and J. William Fulbright (D-AR), as well as Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), who personally filibustered for 14 hours straight. There were white business owners who claimed that Congress did not have

2288-465: The Attorney General to file suit for discrimination in public places and added an amendment that guaranteed a trial by jury for anyone charged with restricting an individual's right to vote. This modified version of the bill passed the House on August 27 by a vote of 279–97. Strom Thurmond , a United States senator from South Carolina , remarked that the civil rights bill constituted

2376-552: The Democratic Party . During and after the Second World War the Southern Caucus widened its tactics from pure obstruction through the filibuster to courting of Northern allies and a rearguard approach of allowing some bills through and amending others to an acceptable form. William White 's book Citadel was credited as the first expose of the Southern Caucus's control over the senate, in which it described

2464-511: The Department of Justice and a U.S. Civil Rights Commission . In the Senate, many Democrats from Southern states were angered by the bill. The original bill had passed in the House of Representatives in June, but when the bill was sent to the Senate it was significantly watered down by a compromise to satisfy the Democrats . The Senate compromise removed a provision that would have allowed

2552-681: The March on Washington Movement , just before the U.S. entered World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 , the first federal anti-discrimination order, and established the Fair Employment Practices Committee . Roosevelt's successor, President Harry Truman , appointed the President's Committee on Civil Rights , proposed the 20th century's first comprehensive Civil Rights Act, and issued Executive Order 9980 and Executive Order 9981 , providing for fair employment and desegregation throughout

2640-551: The junior senator from South Carolina in a write-in campaign . Thurmond's political candidacies were largely based on his opposition to racial integration . Thurmond had earlier argued that the Southern Senators should personally meet with Eisenhower to threaten him with an organized filibuster that would hold up other legislation, a tactic used successfully in the past to defeat other bills . But other Senators thought that this could be counterproductive and that

2728-436: The swearing-in of William Proxmire , who had been elected following the death of Joseph McCarthy , after which he resumed his speech. Thurmond was also allowed breaks throughout the day by other senators, including some in support of the bill, when they questioned him at length. Thurmond concluded his filibuster after 24 hours and 18 minutes at 9:12   p.m. on August 29, making it the longest filibuster ever conducted in

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2816-540: The 11 states that had made up the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War . "Northern" refers to members from the other 39 states, regardless of their geographic location including Southern states like Kentucky. House of Representatives: Senate: House of Representatives: Note that four Representatives voted Present while 13 did not vote. Senate: One year earlier,

2904-616: The 1930s, during the New Deal , the majority of the Supreme Court justices gradually shifted their legal theory to allow for greater government regulation of the private sector under the Commerce Clause, thus paving the way for the federal government to enact civil rights laws prohibiting both public and private sector discrimination on the basis of the commerce clause. Influenced in part by the " Black Cabinet " advisors and

2992-495: The 1960s and the start of the 1970s in the aftermath of the Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968) court decision. In June 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in three cases ( Bostock v. Clayton County , Altitude Express, Inc. v. Zarda , and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ) that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which barred employers from discriminating on

3080-601: The 1964 bill in his Report to the American People on Civil Rights on June 11, 1963. He sought legislation "giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public—hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments"—as well as "greater protection for the right to vote". In late July, Walter Reuther , president of the United Auto Workers , warned that if Congress failed to pass Kennedy's civil rights bill,

3168-452: The 29th, but a staffer quickly put it out of his reach after Thurmond had drunk a glass to reduce the likelihood of him needing to leave for a restroom. The filibuster failed to prevent the passage of the bill, and further failed to change the vote whatsoever. The bill passed two hours after Thurmond finished speaking by a vote of 60–15, and was signed into law by President Eisenhower less than two weeks later. The Civil Rights Act of 1957

3256-650: The Caucus's position on civil rights. In 1959 by joining the Democrat's Western regional conference. The caucus's backing of Johnson for President is a reason given for the lack of an organized filibuster beyond Strom Thurmond's one person filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 , a tactic that the caucus had used adeptly in the past. Their support for Johnson also meant that they were more amenable with other liberal legislation that they would have blocked if

3344-417: The Civil Rights Act of 1957 On August 28, 1957, Strom Thurmond , then a Democratic United States senator from South Carolina , began a filibuster intended to prevent the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 . The filibuster—an extended speech designed to stall legislation—began at 8:54   p.m. and lasted until 9:12   p.m. the following day, a duration of 24 hours and 18 minutes. This made

3432-665: The Civil Rights Act of 1957 did establish the United States Commission on Civil Rights and the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division . By 1960, black voting had increased by only 3%, and Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1960 , which eliminated certain loopholes left by the 1957 Act. In winning the 1960 United States presidential election , Kennedy took 70% of the African American vote. But due to his somewhat narrow victory and Democrats' narrow majorities in Congress, he

3520-630: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a breach of the Fourteenth Amendment and also violated the Fifth and Thirteenth Amendments by depriving him of "liberty and property without due process". In Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964), the Supreme Court held that Congress drew its authority from the Constitution's Commerce Clause, rejecting Rolleston's claims. Resistance to the public accommodation clause continued for years on

3608-512: The Constitution or U.S. law. In essence, this was the controversial "Title III" that had been removed from the 1957 Act and 1960 Act . Civil rights organizations pressed hard for this provision because it could be used to protect peaceful protesters and black voters from police brutality and suppression of free speech rights. Lobbying support for the Civil Rights Act was coordinated by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights ,

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3696-598: The Justice Department power to initiate desegregation or job discrimination lawsuits. On June 11, 1963, President Kennedy met with Republican leaders to discuss the legislation before his television address to the nation that evening. Two days later, Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen and Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield both voiced support for the president's bill, except for provisions guaranteeing equal access to places of public accommodations. This led to several Republican Representatives drafting

3784-575: The President has sent to Capitol Hill for enactment into law, are unconstitutional, unnecessary, unwise and extend beyond the realm of reason. This is the worst civil-rights package ever presented to the Congress and is reminiscent of the Reconstruction proposals and actions of the radical Republican Congress." After the filibuster had gone on for 54 days, Senators Mansfield, Hubert Humphrey , Everett Dirksen , and Thomas Kuchel introduced

3872-444: The Republican Party. The 1964 filibuster was carried out by a group of Southern senators and was only ended by a cloture vote. Thurmond was repeatedly elected and served in the Senate for 48 years, retiring in 2003 at the age of 100 as the oldest U.S. senator ever. Although the filibuster did not use any "overtly racist language" according to The Washington Post ' s Gillian Brockell in 2021, it has been described as racist by

3960-689: The Senate as of 2024 . This surpassed the previous record set by Wayne Morse , who spoke against the Submerged Lands Act for 22 hours and 26 minutes in 1953. Teams of Congressional stenographers worked together to record the speech for the Congressional Record , which ultimately consumed 96 pages in the Record and cost over $ 7,000 in printing costs ($ 76,000 in 2023 dollars). Thurmond's filibuster has been described by historian and biographer Joseph Crespino as "kind of

4048-587: The South or address economic retaliation, police repression, or physical violence against nonwhite voters. While the Act did require that voting rules and procedures be applied equally to all races, it did not abolish the concept of voter "qualification". It accepted the idea that citizens do not have an automatic right to vote but would have to meet standards beyond citizenship. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 directly addressed and eliminated most voting qualifications beyond citizenship. Strom Thurmond filibuster of

4136-467: The South, but those sorts of states may be lost anyway." Senator Richard Russell, Jr. later warned President Johnson that his strong support for the civil rights bill "will not only cost you the South, it will cost you the election". Johnson, however, went on to win the 1964 election by one of the biggest landslides in American history. The South, which had five states swing Republican in 1964, became

4224-503: The act, adding provisions to ban racial discrimination in employment, providing greater protection to black voters, eliminating segregation in all publicly owned facilities (not just schools), and strengthening the anti-segregation clauses regarding public facilities such as lunch counters. They also added authorization for the Attorney General to file lawsuits to protect individuals against the deprivation of any rights secured by

4312-561: The amendment. Along with Representative Martha Griffiths , he was the amendment's chief spokesperson. For 20 years, Smith had sponsored the Equal Rights Amendment (with no linkage to racial issues) in the House because he believed in it. For decades he had been close to the National Woman's Party and its leader Alice Paul , who had been a leading figure in winning the right to vote for women in 1920, co-authored

4400-586: The basis of sex, precluded employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity . Afterward, USA Today stated that in addition to LGBTQ employment discrimination, "[t]he court's ruling is likely to have a sweeping impact on federal civil rights laws barring sex discrimination in education, health care, housing and financial credit." Title I barred unequal application of voter registration requirements. This title did not eliminate literacy tests , which acted as one barrier for black voters, other racial minorities, and poor whites in

4488-442: The bill because he opposed civil rights for Black people and women or attempted to support their rights by broadening the bill to include women. Smith expected that Republicans, who had included equal rights for women in their party's platform since 1944, would probably vote for the amendment. Historians speculate that Smith was trying to embarrass northern Democrats who opposed civil rights for women because labor unions opposed

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4576-493: The bill went against a previous agreement among Southern senators. As a result, Thurmond received mixed praise and criticism for his speech. In more recent years, Thurmond's filibuster has been described as racist because of its goal of preventing access to voting for black Americans. Nevertheless, the bill passed two hours after the filibuster and was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower within two weeks. The Fifteenth Amendment had guaranteed citizens of all races

4664-498: The bill would have been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee , which was chaired by James O. Eastland , a Democrat from Mississippi , whose firm opposition made it seem impossible that the bill would reach the Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield took a novel approach to prevent the Judiciary Committee from keeping the bill in limbo: initially waiving a second reading immediately after

4752-418: The bill's opponents' most damaging arguments was that once passed, the bill would require forced busing to achieve certain racial quotas in schools. The bill's proponents, such as Emanuel Celler and Jacob Javits , said it would not authorize such measures. Leading sponsor Hubert Humphrey wrote two amendments specifically designed to outlaw busing. Humphrey said, "if the bill were to compel it, it would be

4840-475: The bill. In his first address to a joint session of Congress on November 27, 1963, Johnson told the legislators, "No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy's memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill for which he fought so long." Judiciary Committee chairman Celler filed a petition to discharge the bill from the Rules Committee; it required

4928-503: The caucus as "for all the world like the reunions of a large and highly individualistic family whose members are nevertheless bound by the one bond". The book argued that the caucus was quite wide-ranging in its views on economics or foreign policy, but that its protection of the filibuster and general devotion to States rights meant that they rejected the Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver . The root of

5016-427: The clause. Representative Carl Elliott of Alabama later said, "Smith didn't give a damn about women's rights", as "he was trying to knock off votes either then or down the line because there was always a hard core of men who didn't favor women's rights", and according to the Congressional Record , laughter greeted Smith when he introduced the amendment. Smith asserted that he was not joking and sincerely supported

5104-646: The compromise bill passed the Senate by a vote of 73–27, quickly passed through the conference committee , which adopted the Senate version of the bill, then was passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by Johnson on July 2, 1964. Totals are in Yea – Nay format: Original House version: Cloture in the Senate: Senate version: Senate version, voted on by the House: Note that "Southern", as used here, only refers to members of Congress from

5192-486: The constitutional authority to ban segregation in public accommodations. For example, Moreton Rolleston, the owner of a motel in Atlanta, Georgia, said he should not be forced to serve black travelers, saying, "the fundamental question [...] is whether or not Congress has the power to take away the liberty of an individual to run his business as he sees fit in the selection and choice of his customers". Rolleston claimed that

5280-518: The country would face another civil war. Emulating the Civil Rights Act of 1875 , Kennedy's civil rights bill included provisions to ban discrimination in public accommodations and enable the U.S. Attorney General to join lawsuits against state governments that operated segregated school systems, among other provisions. But it did not include a number of provisions civil rights leaders deemed essential, including protection against police brutality, ending discrimination in private employment, and granting

5368-449: The early morning hours. On the morning of the 29th, Thurmond's voice dropped to a mumble and his tone became increasingly monotonous. Republican leader William Knowland from California requested around midday that Thurmond speak up so he could be sure no motions were being made, but Thurmond responded by suggesting that the senator move closer. Knowland remained where he was. At approximately 1   p.m., Thurmond yielded to allow for

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5456-561: The federal government and the armed forces. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 , signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 9, 1957, was the first federal civil rights legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to become law. After the Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education , Southern Democrats began a campaign of " massive resistance " against desegregation, and even

5544-458: The few moderate white leaders shifted to openly racist positions. Partly in an effort to defuse calls for more far-reaching reforms, Eisenhower proposed a civil rights bill that would increase the protection of African American voting rights. Despite having a limited impact on African-American voter participation, at a time when black voter registration from 0% (in 11 counties) to less than 5% (in 97 counties) despite being majority-Black counties,

5632-573: The filibuster the longest single-person filibuster in United States Senate history, a record that still stands as of 2024 . The filibuster focused primarily on asserting that the bill in question, which provided for expanded federal protection of African American voting rights , was both unnecessary and unconstitutional , and Thurmond recited from documents including the election laws of each U.S. state, Supreme Court decisions, and George Washington's Farewell Address . Thurmond focused on

5720-405: The filibuster, despite its popularity among their constituents, because (as Russell put it) the South had already secured a compromise in the bill which would be jeopardized by a filibuster and there was not enough support to prevent a cloture vote anyway. In 1964, Thurmond was involved in a second filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . Later that year, he switched his affiliation to

5808-421: The first Equal Rights Amendment, and had been a chief supporter of equal rights proposals since then. She and other feminists had worked with Smith since 1945 to find a way to include sex as a protected civil rights category, and felt now was the moment. Griffiths argued that the new law would protect black women but not white women, and that that was unfair to white women. Black feminist lawyer Pauli Murray wrote

5896-476: The first reading, which would have sent it to the Judiciary Committee, he took the unprecedented step of giving the bill a second reading on February 26, 1964, thereby bypassing the Judiciary Committee, and sending it to the Senate floor for immediate debate. When the bill came before the full Senate for debate on March 30, 1964, the " Southern Bloc " of 18 southern Democratic Senators and lone Republican John Tower of Texas, led by Richard Russell (D-GA), launched

5984-411: The floor if senatorial staff could not convince Thurmond to end his speech. During the filibuster, Thurmond sustained himself on diced pieces of pumpernickel bread and small pieces of ground steak. He also brought throat lozenges and malted milk tablets onto the floor with him in his pockets. Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois brought Thurmond a pitcher of orange juice as noon approached on

6072-594: The floor to him for a few minutes, and Thurmond was able to use the restroom while Goldwater made an insertion to the Congressional Record . An aide had prepared a bucket in the Senate cloakroom for Thurmond to relieve himself if the need arose, but Thurmond did not end up using it. Thurmond's health had become an item of concern by the evening of the 29th among his aides and the Senate physician George W. Calver, who threatened to personally remove him from

6160-467: The ground, especially in the South. When local college students in Orangeburg, South Carolina, attempted to desegregate a bowling alley in 1968, they were violently attacked, leading to rioting and what became known as the " Orangeburg massacre ." Resistance by school boards continued into the next decade, with the most significant declines in black-white school segregation only occurring at the end of

6248-609: The group's power lay in the one party nature of the Solid South which meant that there was little turnover of Senators from the region, coupled with the seniority system within the Senate which meant that power would accrue to Senators with particularly long service. This was particularly the case when the Democrats controlled the Senate and therefore the Committee chairmanships. The Senate's rules which mean that in general

6336-433: The laws under the 14th Amendment , and its duty to protect voting rights under the 15th Amendment . The legislation was proposed by President John F. Kennedy in June 1963, but it was opposed by filibuster in the Senate. After Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed the bill forward. The United States House of Representatives passed the bill on February 10, 1964, and after

6424-415: The measure had occupied the Senate for 60 working days, including six Saturdays. The day before, Humphrey, the bill's manager, concluded that he had the 67 votes required at that time to end the debate and the filibuster. With six wavering senators providing a four-vote victory margin, the final tally stood at 71 to 29. Never before in its entire history had the Senate been able to muster enough votes to defeat

6512-606: The most significant legislative achievements in American history". Initially, powers given to enforce the act were weak, but these were supplemented during later years. Congress asserted its authority to legislate under several different parts of the United States Constitution , principally its enumerated power to regulate interstate commerce under the Commerce Clause of Article I, Section 8 , its duty to guarantee all citizens equal protection of

6600-506: The newspaper because the bill Thurmond filibustered against protected the right of African Americans to vote. In his 2012 biography of Thurmond, Strom Thurmond's America , Crespino noted the impact of Thurmond's filibuster and partial authorship of the Southern Manifesto , a document designed to unify the South against school integration , the previous year. He described these events as "[sealing] Thurmond's reputation as one of

6688-484: The power to prohibit discrimination in the private sector, thus stripping the Civil Rights Act of 1875 of much of its ability to protect civil rights. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the legal justification for voiding the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was part of a larger trend by members of the United States Supreme Court to invalidate most government regulations of the private sector, except when dealing with laws designed to protect traditional public morality. In

6776-522: The right to vote in 1870, but state laws, poll taxes , and other institutions still prevented many Black Americans from voting. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was designed to federally secure and protect the right of Black Americans to vote, and was supported by the NAACP alongside the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration . The Act aimed to protect this right by establishing a Civil Rights Division within

6864-565: The same Congress had passed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 , which prohibited wage differentials based on sex. The prohibition on sex discrimination was added to the Civil Rights Act by Howard W. Smith , a powerful Virginia Democrat who chaired the House Rules Committee and strongly opposed the legislation. Smith's amendment was passed by a teller vote of 168 to 133. Historians debate whether Smith cynically attempted to defeat

6952-417: The stand, and longtime Capitol Hill staffer Bertie Bowman claimed in his memoir that Thurmond had been fitted with a catheter . Thurmond was allowed to leave for the restroom one time, approximately three hours into the filibuster. Senator Barry Goldwater quietly asked Thurmond how much longer he could hold off using the restroom, to which he replied, "about another hour". Goldwater asked Thurmond to yield

7040-457: The support of a majority of House members to move the bill to the floor. Initially, Celler had a difficult time acquiring the signatures necessary, with many Representatives who supported the civil rights bill itself remaining cautious about violating normal House procedure with the rare use of a discharge petition. By the time of the 1963 winter recess, 50 signatures were still needed. After the return of Congress from its winter recess, however, it

7128-563: The tactic should be held in reserve. An agreement within the Southern Caucus to not stage an organized filibuster had been reached in Senator Richard Russell 's office on August 24, four days before Thurmond's speech. Thurmond's departure from the senators' agreement was later criticized by party leaders including Russell and Herman Talmadge . The filibuster began at 8:54   p.m. on August 28, 1957, with

7216-532: The votes of Republicans and Northern Democrats. Thus, as Justice William Rehnquist wrote in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson , "The prohibition against discrimination based on sex was added to Title VII at the last minute on the floor of the House of Representatives [...] the bill quickly passed as amended, and we are left with little legislative history to guide us in interpreting the Act's prohibition against discrimination based on 'sex. ' " One of

7304-452: Was apparent that public opinion in the North favored the bill and that the petition would acquire the necessary signatures. To avert the humiliation of a successful discharge petition, Chairman Smith relented and allowed the bill to pass through the Rules Committee. Johnson, who wanted the bill passed as soon as possible, ensured that it would be quickly considered by the Senate . Normally,

7392-532: Was primarily focused on a specific provision in the civil rights bill that focused on minor voting rights contempt cases. The provision allowed these cases to be tried by a judge without a jury present , but allowed a second trial by jury if penalties in the first trial exceeded 45 days' imprisonment or $ 300 in fines. This arrangement had been decided through a compromise between Republicans and Democrats, though according to historian Joseph Crespino it had very little practical impact since many judges would not hear

7480-731: Was the first U.S. civil rights bill passed in 82 years. Thurmond received significant criticism, even from Democrats who signed or were aligned with the goals of the Southern Manifesto , including Talmadge, Russell, and the Dixiecrats as a whole. Talmadge referred to the speech as a form of grandstanding , and Russell denounced it as "personal political aggrandizement". These senators had received several telegrams during Thurmond's speech encouraging them to assist Thurmond in his filibuster by relieving him, and Thurmond's staff received correspondence from hundreds of Southerners congratulating and encouraging him. The Southern Caucus did not join

7568-504: Was through most of the caucus's life the acknowledged leader of the group, with the group often meeting in his office and with him sending out invitations to what he called "Constitutional Democrats. The caucus was where the Southern Manifesto was written, with Strom Thurmond writing the initial draft and Richard Russell the final version. This supported the reversal of the landmark Supreme Court 1954 ruling Brown v. Board of Education , which determined that segregation of public schools

7656-580: Was unconstitutional and was signed by 19 Senators and 82 Representatives. The backing of the Southern Caucus was seen as crucial to the early rise in Lyndon Johnson 's career, although he did distance himself somewhat from the Caucus as Senate Majority Leader by not signing the Southern Manifesto , although his biographer Robert Caro says that this was with the active connivance of the Caucus and Russell who wanted to improve Johnson's presidential chances as they saw him as fundamentally sympathetic to

7744-538: Was wary to push hard for civil rights legislation for fear of losing southern support. Moreover, according to the Miller Center , he wanted to wait until his second term to send Congress a civil rights bill. But with elevated racial tensions and a wave of African-American protests in the spring of 1963, such as the Birmingham campaign , Kennedy realized he had to act on civil rights. Kennedy first proposed

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