How the 1964 Civil Rights Act Eviscerated the American Constitution

James Madison would be horrified.

Vince Coyner | July 30, 2026

James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, was the driving force behind transforming what started out as a water navigation dispute between Maryland and Virginia into the Constitutional Convention, which then produced our Constitution. Madison was not only one of the primary influences during the Convention itself but also, writing as Publius (along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay) in the Federalist Papers, he advocated for its ratification.

His Constitution, with its staggered terms, federal system, three branches of government and more, was written specifically to tamp down and limit the power of both mobs and government. He was, by any stretch, a brilliant man, a student of history and a man of extraordinary vision.

All that being said, there was one place where Madison was, rather astonishingly, blind: A Bill of Rights. He thought one was unnecessary because 1) nothing in the Constitution gave government the power to oppress citizens and 2) explicitly stating some rights had the potential to be seen as a limitation on those citizens’ rights that weren’t explicitly stated. For a man so aware of the nature of man, his initial position was curious.

Eventually Madison came around, and history has proven that the Bill of Rights, which has been the cornerstone of American success for most of her history, was indeed necessary.

But it was not sufficient.

It was part of the Old Constitution.

Today we’re living under a New Constitution where what’s written is archaic. Christopher Caldwell, in his extraordinary book The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties, lays out what he calls the New Constitution, one which is utterly detached from the Old Constitution.

Caldwell argues that while the Old Constitution was based on individual liberties and freedoms from government intervention, the New Constitution is just the opposite, one characterized by group dynamics, demographic characteristics, and a demand that the government must remediate all perceived inequities.

The New Constitution went into effect on July 2, 1964, when LBJ signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act (“CRA”).

Senator Barry Goldwater voted against the bill, stating

The two portions of this bill to which I have constantly and consistently voiced........

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