Editing Reconstruction era (section)

===Enforcement Acts (1870–1871)===
Congress and Grant passed a series (three) of powerful civil rights [[Enforcement Acts]] between 1870 and 1871, designed to protect blacks and Reconstruction governments.{{sfnmp|Kahan|2018|1pp=64–65|Calhoun|2017|2pp=317–319}} These were criminal codes that protected the freedmen's right to vote, to hold office, to serve on juries, and receive equal protection of laws. Most important, they authorized the federal government to intervene when states did not act. Urged by Grant and his Attorney General [[Amos T. Akerman]], the strongest of these laws was the [[Ku Klux Klan Act]], passed on April 20, 1871, that authorized the president to impose [[martial law]] and suspend the writ of ''[[habeas corpus]]''.{{sfnmp|Kahan|2018|1pp=64–65|Calhoun|2017|2pp=317–319}}{{sfnmp|Smith|2001|1pp=545–546|White|2016|2p=521}}{{sfnp|Simon|2002|p=248}}

Grant was so adamant about the passage of the Ku Klux Klan Act, he earlier had sent a message to Congress, on March 23, 1871, in which he said:
{{blockquote|"A condition of affairs now exists in some of the States of the Union rendering life and property insecure, and the carrying of the mails and the collection of the revenue dangerous. The proof that such a, condition of affairs exists in some localities is now before the Senate. That the power to correct these evils is beyond the control of State authorities, I do not doubt. That the power of the Executive of the United States, acting within the limits of existing laws, is sufficient for present emergencies, is not clear."<ref name=":00">{{cite book |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa&cc=moa&sid=95e3f6e828e116b80d4cccd93c806bc1&view=text&rgn=main&idno=ACA4911.0001.001 |title=Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States February 19, 1872 |date=January 31, 1872 |access-date=2021-01-13 |archive-date=June 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604011404/https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa&cc=moa&sid=95e3f6e828e116b80d4cccd93c806bc1&view=text&rgn=main&idno=ACA4911.0001.001 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Grant also recommended the enforcement of laws in all parts of the United States to protect life, liberty, and property.<ref name=":00"/>