Graphic of part of the Emancipation Proclamation
Rights and POwer: The POlitics of Reconstruction
Link to Part 1 of Section 4: Presidential Reconstruction Link to Part 2 of Section 4: Congress and Civil Rights Link to Part 3 of Section 4: The National Debate Over Reconstruction; IMpeachment; and the Election of Grant Link to Part 4 of Section 4: Reconstruction Government in the South Link to Biographies in Section 4

"The First Colored Senator and Representatives," Currier & Ives, 1872. (Library of Congress)

"The First Colored Senator and Representatives,"
Currier & Ives, 1872. (Library of Congress)

Click image to enlarge.

Previous page Image 22 of 40 Next page Link to the Gallery for Section 4

The Forty-First and Forty-Second Congress included black members for the first time in American history. A total of sixteen blacks served in Congress during Reconstruction.

This commemorative print issued at the time portrays Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi, and representatives Robert DeLarge of South Carolina, Jefferson Long

of Georgia, Benjamin Turner of Alabama, Josiah Walls of Florida, and Joseph Rainey and Robert B. Elliott of South Carolina.
Copyright 2003
he Meaning of Freedom: Black and White Responses to Slavery From Free Labor to Slave Labor Rights and Power: The Politics of Reconstruction The Ending of Reconstruction Epilogue: The Unfinished Revolution Additional Resources Credits for this Exhibit Link to return to Digital History Home Link to return to Reconstruction Home Introduction