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Civil Rights Act of 1875

March 1, 1875

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 guaranteed universal access to inns, public transportation, theaters, and “other places of amusement” regardless of race. Congress granted the U.S. district and circuit courts exclusive jurisdiction over cases regarding alleged violations of the act. In The Civil Rights Cases of 1883, the Supreme Court ruled that the act was unconstitutional because the Fourteenth Amendment applied only to state, and not to private, action.