Affirmative Action

Reconstruction and Post–Civil War Years

Reconstruction policies during the post–Civil War years are considered the first affirmative action programs with the express purpose of integrating newly freed slaves into the citizenry. Congress had added two new constitutional amendments: the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, and the Fourteenth Amendment, which extended citizenship to all persons who were born or naturalized in the United States and that granted its new citizens equal protection under the law and due process. During legislative debates over the wording of Reconstruction policy, Representative John Coburn of Indiana used the term affirmative action in advocating government intervention to halt state-sanctioned discrimination and violence against people of color, which he referred to as “white affirmative action.” Coburn argued that such actions violated the rights of Blacks to equal protection under the law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. This may be the first instantiation of the term affirmative action. This appeal notwithstanding, Congress enacted Reconstruction legislation with no support or mechanisms for enforcement or protection for the newly freed slaves. Furthermore, they were denied rights as citizens that Whites already enjoyed, including land ownership, voting rights, and employment, while practices proliferated to segregate people of color from Whites in such arenas as education, public facilities, employment, and transportation. Even more disturbing were the violent acts perpetrated against Black citizens.

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