The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was significant because it

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 established that people born in the United States were citizens and protected their civil rights, including the right to make contracts and own property. It was an early federal effort to protect African Americans after the Civil War and was followed by other such laws. The act did not grant African American men the right to vote or prohibit race-based voting restrictions; those protections came later.

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