However, it was after the abolition of slavery and during the Reconstruction era (1865-1877) that laws known as "Jim Crow laws” were enacted in the Southern states of the US specifically to segregate African Americans from whites. These laws mandated the separation of public facilities and amenities based on race. Segregation continued until the passing of significant civil rights legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which ended decades of legalized segregation and discrimination faced by African Americans.