What legislation aimed to provide civil rights to African Americans during Reconstruction?

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was a significant piece of legislation aimed at ensuring that African Americans had equal rights and protections under the law during the Reconstruction era following the Civil War. This act represents a fundamental effort to affirm the citizenship of African Americans and to protect their civil rights against the restrictive Black Codes that were enacted in southern states.

The act specifically aimed to provide African Americans with the same legal rights as white citizens. It declared that all persons born in the United States, regardless of race, were citizens and entitled to equal rights. This was a crucial step in the fight for civil rights and set a precedent for later legislation, including the Fourteenth Amendment, which further solidified these rights by establishing legal protections against states infringing on individual freedoms.

In this context, the other legislative options do not relate directly to civil rights for African Americans. The Homestead Act provided land to settlers in the west, aiming to promote westward expansion; the Dawes Act aimed to assimilate Native Americans by allotting them individual plots of land; and the Know-Nothing Party's stance was based on nativism and opposition to immigration, rather than civil rights. Therefore, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 stands out as the appropriate legislation aimed