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Leaders in the Legislative Branch Black History and Blacks in U.S. History

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Leaders in the Legislative Branch
Print Leaders in the Legislative Branch Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 8 to 12
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.9

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		best-known, redrawn, literacy, beginning, dishonest, domestic, setback, addition, campaign, regain, public, increase, effort, equal, lasted, former
	content words:		African Americans, United States, Hiram Revels, United States Senate, Joseph Rainey, African American, Blanche K., African American Congressmen, Civil War, Jim Crow

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Leaders in the Legislative Branch By Sharon Fabian

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¹     When slavery ended, African Americans gained the chance to take part in American democracy. They became lawmakers at the local, state, and federal levels. Beginning in the 1870s, African Americans became members of both houses of Congress in the United States government. 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, 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 1870s, when these first African American Congressmen were elected, was the time known as Reconstruction. It was a period of rebuilding after the Civil War. There were federal troops still stationed in southern states. The U.S. 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. Former white 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. Poll taxes stopped some people who had little money from voting. Literacy tests were instituted. They 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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Black History and Blacks in U.S. History

Black History and Blacks in U.S. History

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United States

United States

American Government         Black History and Blacks in U.S. History         Children in History         Government Careers         Hispanic Heritage         How Can I Help?

Immigration         National Parks and Monuments         Native Americans         Presidents of the United States         Women's History

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United States History

A Nation Divided (1840-1861)         A New Nation (1776-1830)         After the Civil War (1865-1870)         American Revolution         Cold War (1947-1991)         Colonial America (1492-1776)         Lewis and Clark (1804-1806)         Pearl Harbor         Spanish American War (1898)         The 1890's         The 1900's         The 1910's         The 1920's         The 1930's

The 1940's         The 1950's         The 1960's         The 1970's         The 1980's         The 1990's         The 2000's         The Civil War (1861-1865)         The Great Depression (1929-1945)         The United States Grows (1865-1900)         The War of 1812         Wild, Wild West         World War I (1914-1918)         World War II

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50 States

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