Attorney General William on Enforcement Acts  Rating: No votes.
The Colfax massacre of 1872, believed to be the most devastating
occurrence of racial violence during Reconstruction, resulted in
the death of around 150 freedmen at the hands of white
supremacists. The events at Colfax resulted in only three men to
convicted. However, disagreement led to the case entering the
Supreme Court in the form of United States v. Cruikshank in
1876. The case brought in to question the constitutionality of
the Enforcement Acts. It questioned if the federal government
had the jurisdiction to enforce these acts on the state level.
The Enforcement Acts were issued in 1870 and 1871; they sought
to prevent intimidation of voters and discrimination based on
one’s skin color. The Acts also issued specific crimes committed
by the Ku Klux Klan as federal offenses and those who committed
them would be punished based on federal standards. Many white
Southerners believed the Enforcement Acts were a violation of
State’s rights. Duri