Revels, Hiram Rhodes
1827-1901 · Contribution: 1870-1871
Law & Civil Rights
First African American to serve in the U.S. Congress, seated in the Senate in 1870 just 22 days after the 15th Amendment's ratification

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Quick facts
- Born
- 1827-1901
- Category
- Law & Civil Rights
Impact on the world
Revels's swearing-in shattered the color line of the U.S. Congress, embodying the promise of the Reconstruction Amendments in a single historic moment.
Sources
- U.S. Senate Historical Office
1 more sources and references are available to members.
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