Civil Rights Act of 1871

E16181

Reconstruction-era legislation United States federal statute civil rights law

The Civil Rights Act of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, is a U.S. federal law that empowers individuals to sue state officials and others for civil rights violations, particularly those involving racial violence and deprivation of constitutional rights.

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All labels observed (8)

Label	Occurrences
Civil Rights Act of 1871 canonical	5
Enforcement Act of 1871	4
Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871	3
Ku Klux Klan Act	2
Civil Rights Act of 1871 (Ku Klux Klan Act)	1
Ku Klux Klan Act civil remedy provision	1
Second Ku Klux Klan Act	1
Section 1 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T126079 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Civil Rights Act of 1871
Context triple: [Civil Rights Act of 1866, precedes, Civil Rights Act of 1871]

A. Civil Rights Act of 1870
The Civil Rights Act of 1870 was a U.S. federal law enacted during Reconstruction to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment by protecting African Americans’ voting rights and penalizing interference with those rights.
B. Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 is a landmark U.S. federal law that established citizenship and equal civil rights for all persons born in the United States, particularly protecting the rights of formerly enslaved people after the Civil War.
C. Civil Rights Act of 1875
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was a U.S. federal law enacted during Reconstruction that aimed to guarantee African Americans equal access to public accommodations and jury service, though it was later struck down by the Supreme Court.
D. Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first major U.S. civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, aimed primarily at protecting African Americans’ voting rights and establishing a federal Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department.
E. Judiciary Act of 1870
The Judiciary Act of 1870 is a U.S. federal law that created the Department of Justice and centralized federal law enforcement and legal representation under the Attorney General.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Civil Rights Act of 1871
Target entity description: The Civil Rights Act of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, is a U.S. federal law that empowers individuals to sue state officials and others for civil rights violations, particularly those involving racial violence and deprivation of constitutional rights.

A. Civil Rights Act of 1870
The Civil Rights Act of 1870 was a U.S. federal law enacted during Reconstruction to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment by protecting African Americans’ voting rights and penalizing interference with those rights.
B. Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 is a landmark U.S. federal law that established citizenship and equal civil rights for all persons born in the United States, particularly protecting the rights of formerly enslaved people after the Civil War.
C. Civil Rights Act of 1875
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was a U.S. federal law enacted during Reconstruction that aimed to guarantee African Americans equal access to public accommodations and jury service, though it was later struck down by the Supreme Court.
D. Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first major U.S. civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, aimed primarily at protecting African Americans’ voting rights and establishing a federal Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department.
E. Judiciary Act of 1870
The Judiciary Act of 1870 is a U.S. federal law that created the Department of Justice and centralized federal law enforcement and legal representation under the Attorney General.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Reconstruction-era legislation ⓘ United States federal statute ⓘ civil rights law ⓘ
addresses	racially motivated violence ⓘ terrorism against African Americans in the South ⓘ
aimedAt	Ku Klux Klan ⓘ white supremacist organizations ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Enforcement Act of 1871 ⓘ linked to: Civil Rights Act of 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act ⓘ linked to: Civil Rights Act of 1871
appliesTo	persons acting under color of state law ⓘ state officials ⓘ
codifiedAs	42 U.S.C. § 1983 ⓘ 42 U.S.C. § 1985 ⓘ 42 U.S.C. § 1986 ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
dateEnacted	April 20, 1871 ⓘ
empowers	federal government to intervene against rights violations ⓘ individuals to sue state officials for civil rights violations ⓘ
enactedBy	United States Congress ⓘ
historicalContext	Reconstruction era following the American Civil War ⓘ
legalMechanism	civil cause of action for deprivation of rights ⓘ criminal penalties for conspiracies to violate civil rights ⓘ
longTermImpact	foundation of modern civil rights litigation in U.S. federal courts ⓘ
notableProvision	civil liability for persons conspiring to deprive others of equal protection ⓘ creation of a federal cause of action for deprivation of constitutional rights under color of state law ⓘ duty of federal officials to prevent civil rights violations when possible ⓘ
partOf	Reconstruction Acts ⓘ linked to: Reconstruction Acts of 1867
presidentAtEnactment	Ulysses S. Grant ⓘ
protectsRight	due process rights ⓘ equal protection of the laws ⓘ privileges and immunities secured by the Constitution ⓘ
purpose	to combat racial violence in the post–Civil War South ⓘ to protect civil and constitutional rights from infringement ⓘ to provide federal remedies against violations of constitutional rights ⓘ
section	Section 1 ⓘ Section 10 ⓘ Section 11 ⓘ Section 12 ⓘ Section 2 ⓘ Section 3 ⓘ Section 4 ⓘ Section 5 ⓘ Section 6 ⓘ Section 7 ⓘ Section 8 ⓘ Section 9 ⓘ
signedBy	Ulysses S. Grant ⓘ
usedFor	lawsuits against police misconduct ⓘ lawsuits challenging unconstitutional state and local government actions ⓘ
yearEnacted	1871 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (18)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Civil Rights Act of 1866 → precedes → Civil Rights Act of 1871 ⓘ

Enforcement Clause → basisFor → Civil Rights Act of 1871 ⓘ

Civil Rights Act of 1870 → relatedTo → Civil Rights Act of 1871 ⓘ

Civil Rights Act of 1870 → relatedTo → Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 ⓘ