The context of civil rights 151federal laws and policies,” investigate complaints, and collect information regarding
citizens who are “being deprived of their right to vote” or who are being discriminated
against or denied the “equal protection of the laws under the Constitution because of
race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin.” It investigates government
actions, such as allegations of racial discrimination in elections, and discriminatory
actions of individuals in the workplace, commerce, housing, and education.
This definition seems straightforward enough, but confusion may arise when
comparing the terms “civil rights” and “civil liberties.” They are often used
interchangeably, but there are important differences. “Civil liberties” refers to the
freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, such as the freedom of speech, religious
expression, and the press, as well as the due process protection of the Fourteenth
Amendment. In contrast, civil rights protect all persons from discrimination and
are rooted in laws and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Moreover, civil liberties primarily limit what the government can do to you (“Congress
shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech,” for example), whereas civil
rights protect you from discrimination both by the government and by individuals. As
noted in the previous chapter, to oversimplify, civil liberties are about freedom and civil
rights are about equality.
Neither civil liberties nor civil rights figured prominently at the Constitutional
Convention. Equality is not even mentioned in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.
However, equality was very much on the Founders’ minds, as is evident in this ringing
passage from the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Despite the broad language, this was a limited conception of equality. The reference
to “men” was intentional: women had no political or economic rights in the late
eighteenth century. Similarly, equality did not apply to slaves or to Native Americans.
Even propertyless white men did not have full political rights until several decades after
the Constitution was ratified. Equality and civil rights in the United States have been a
continually evolving work in progress.African Americans
From the early nineteenth century and the movement for the abolition of slavery until
the mid-twentieth century and the civil rights movement, the central focus of civil
rights was on the experiences of African Americans. Other groups received attention
more gradually. Starting in the mid-nineteenth century women began their fight for
equal rights, and over the next century the civil rights movement expanded to include
other groups such as Native Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans. Most recently,
attention has turned to the elderly, the disabled, and LGBTQ people (lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning people). The most divisive civil rights issue
with the greatest long-term impact, however, has been slavery and its legacy.Slavery and Its Impact Slavery was part of the American economy from nearly
the beginning of the nation’s history. Dutch traders brought 20 slaves to Jamestown,
Virginia, in 1619, a year before the Puritans landed at Plymouth Rock. It is impossible
to overstate the importance of slaves to the southern economy. The 1860 census shows
that there were 2.3 million slaves in the Deep South (including Georgia, Alabama,
South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana), constituting 47 percent of its population,
and there were nearly 4 million slaves in the South overall. The economic benefits for
slave owners were clear. By 1860, the per capita income for whites in the South wasFull_06_APT_64431_ch05_148-197.indd 151 16/11/18 1:27 PM