The 15th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified today (2/3) in 1870. The Amendment said, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." It also gave Congress the power to enforce the Amendment. In the same year, Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Mississippi Republican, became the first Black man elected to Congress. Southern Democrats tried unsuccessfully to block him from taking his seat in the Senate. Over the next ten years, 15 more Black men served in the House and Senate, one was a former slave.
Celebrate Black History Month by reading more about Senator Hiram Rhodes Revels. Click below for a podcast of my take.