Hiram Revels sworn in as first African American US Senator
- When
- 1870
- Where
- Mississippi State Legislature; Washington, D.C., the conventional meeting place of the United States Senate
- Episodes
- 2
Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, was elected by the state legislature in 1870 to fill a U.S. Senate seat. Despite challenges regarding his citizenship, he was seated on February 25, 1870, becoming the first African American member of Congress.
Episodes
- Mississippi Legislative Election
Revels was elected by the Mississippi legislature to fill a U.S. Senate seat, overcoming objections regarding his citizenship status.
- Senate Seating
Revels was seated in the U.S. Senate on February 25, 1870, becoming the first African American member of Congress.
Background and detail
Background. Revels had been elected to represent Adams County in the Mississippi State Senate in 1869, giving him standing in Mississippi politics as the legislature convened in January 1870 to fill a U.S. Senate seat.
Election and Controversy. In January 1870, Revels presented the opening prayer in the state legislature. He was subsequently elected by the Mississippi legislature with a vote of 81 to 15 to finish a U.S. Senate term. Opponents argued he lacked nine years of prior citizenship because no black man was a citizen before the 14th Amendment's ratification in 1868.
Swearing-In. On February 25, 1870, Revels was seated in the United States Senate by a party-line vote of 48 to 8. Republicans voted in favor, while Democrats voted against. This event marked him as the first African American to serve in either house of the U.S. Congress.
People involved
- Hiram Rhodes Revels · First African American U.S. Senator
Sources
- Hiram R. Revels Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-04
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.