Civil Rights Act (1964)

Last Updated on February 14, 2024.

The Civil Rights Act was signed into law by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson on July Second, 1964.

It prohibited discrimination in any public place, provided for integration of schools and more public facilities, and was making employment discrimination an illegal activity.

1. What are civil rights?

A.an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason

B.an area of public land set aside by the government for Native Americans

C.rights that involve equal status and treatment and the right to participate in government

D.All of the above

Question 1 of 3

2.

President _______  signed civil rights legislation to end segregation and discrimination in the workplace and all public places.

A.John F. Kennedy

B.Lyndon B. Johnson

C.Franklin D. Roosevelt

D.Abraham Lincoln

Question 2 of 3

3. When was the Civil Rights bill signed into law?

A.1964

B.1982

C.1944

D.1968

Question 3 of 3

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This lesson is provided by Onsego GED Prep.

Video Transcription

The document was the most sweeping legislation on civil rights since the Reconstruction.

In a nationwide televised address on June Sixth, 1963, President Kennedy urged our nation to take action to guarantee equal treatment of all Americans regardless of their race.

Soon thereafter, President Kennedy proposed that the US Congress should consider civil rights legislation and address voting rights, school desegregations, public accommodation, nondiscrimination related to federally assisted and/or funded programs, and a lot much more.

Despite his assassination in November 1963 in Dallas, Texas, President Kennedy’s proposals culminated in the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Just a few hours after the US House approved it on July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law.

The Civil Rights Act was outlawing segregation in lots of businesses, for example, restaurants, hotels, and theaters.

The Civil Rights Act was banning discrimination practices in all employment circumstances and ended segregation in lots of public places such as libraries, swimming pools, or public schools.

Getting the Civil Rights Act passes was anything but easy. Opposition in the U.S. House bottled up this bill in the House Rules Committee and opponents in the Senate tried to talk the bill to death by using a so-called filibuster.

In early 1964, however, supporters in the House of the act were overcoming the obstacles of the Rules Committee as they were threatening to send the bill to the House floor without having committee approval.

And filibuster in the Senate was dealt with through the floor leadership of Senator Hubert Humphrey (Minnesota), President Johnson’s formidable support, and the efforts of Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen (Illinois), who successfully convinced some Republicans that supporting this bill was the best solution.