Civil Rights Act of 1960
By the late 1950s, the Civil Rights Movement had been pressuring Congress to enact legislation to protect the constitutional civil rights of African Americans. The first major piece of civil rights legislation passed by Congress was the Civil Rights Act of 1957. While enforcing the voting rights of African Americans set out in the Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, the act had several loopholes. Southern states continued to discriminate against African Americans in application of voter registration and electoral laws, in segregation of school and public facilities, and in employment.
South Carolina Republican Party
In the 1960s, the Civil Rights movement intensified in the South, and in early July 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed. The Act, passed with the support of Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson, ended legal segregation in public accommodations.