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Black History and Blacks in U.S. History

Leaders in the Legislative Branch

Leaders in the Legislative Branch
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   9.38

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    best-known, redrawn, uncounted, democracy, opportunity, illegal, lessen, federal, domestic, effective, slavery, founding, setback, literacy, participate, especially
     content words:    United States, Hiram Revels, United States Senate, Joseph Rainey, Blanche K., African-American Congressmen, Civil War, Jim Crow, Voting Rights Act, Rights Act

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Leaders in the Legislative Branch
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     When slavery ended, African-Americans gained the opportunity to participate in American democracy. They became lawmakers at the local, state, and federal levels. Beginning in the 1870's, African-Americans became members of both houses of Congress in the United States government - the Senate and the House of Representatives. Hiram Revels, a free black man born in a slave state, was elected to the United States Senate in 1870. Joseph Rainey, born a slave, was the first African-American elected to the House of Representatives, in 1870. Blanche K. Bruce was elected to the Senate in 1875. After a few years, something changed, and no more blacks were elected to Congress for nearly one hundred years. What changed? What happened to stop the election of black lawmakers so soon after it had begun?
 
2     The 1870's, when these first African-American Congressmen were elected, was the time known as Reconstruction. It was a period of rebuilding after the Civil War, with federal troops still stationed in southern states. The US government was making an effort to include former slaves in our democracy.
 
3     Reconstruction lasted for only a few years. Then the government withdrew its troops from the South, and former leaders of the Southern states took steps to regain the power they had lost. They passed laws restricting the rights and activities of African-Americans. These laws became known as Jim Crow laws. One of the ways they restricted the freedoms of African-Americans was by making it more difficult to vote.
 
4     Poll taxes were charged; this stopped some people who had little money from voting. Literacy tests were instituted; these stopped people who had never learned to read from voting. Voting districts were redrawn, separating the black votes and making them less effective. Illegal activities kept blacks from voting too. Violence and threats of violence kept black voters away from the polls. Dishonest elections caused some votes to go uncounted.

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