164 a shor t h istory of th e united stat es
its presidential candidate, along with Schuyler Colfax, the Radical
Speaker of the House of Representatives, as his running mate. The
Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour, former governor of New
York; and Francis P. Blair of Missouri, who were defeated by a lopsided
vote in the electoral college ( 80 to 214 ) by the Republican ticket.
The strength and determination of the Radicals were again demon-
strated by the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitu-
tion on February 26 , 1869. This amendment forbade any state to deny a
citizen the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition
of servitude. All unreconstructed states had to ratify this amendment
before they could be considered ready for readmission to the Union.
Virginia was restored on January 26 , 1870 ; Mississippi on February 23 ;
and Texas on March 30. The Fifteenth Amendment was declared rati-
fied on March 30 , 1870.
These reconstructed southern states sent the first of a long line of
African-Americans to Congress as both representatives and senators.
Hiram R. Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, won election to the
Senate. A Methodist-Episcopal minister, he had served as chaplain of
a black regiment during the Civil War. He took his seat on February
25 , 1870. In the House, the fi rst African-American to gain election was
Joseph H. Rainey, a Republican from South Carolina, who was sworn
in on December 12 , 1870. He had been a barber on a Confederate
blockade runner and was the first black man to preside over the House
when Speaker James G. Blaine of Maine turned the gavel over to him
in May 1874.
Other African-Americans who were House members during these
years included Benjamin S. Turner of Alabama, Robert C. De Large
and Robert B. Elliott of South Carolina, Josiah T. Walls of Florida,
and Jefferson F. Long of Georgia—all Republicans. A total of sixteen
African-Americans served in Congress during Reconstruction, but
each served only one or two terms.
Throughout Reconstruction military courts were employed to carry
out the directives of the various laws passed by Congress. But in Ex
parte Milligan, the Supreme Court ruled that martial law was unconsti-
tutional where civil courts were in operation. Fearful that the court
might invalidate the Reconstruction Acts, Congress passed legislation
in March 1868 that denied it jurisdiction in the matter. Still, the Court