February 25: Hiram Revels Becomes a U.S. Senator (1870)
Prayer Idea
Pray for U.S. senators to work together for the good of all Americans.
History Note
Hiram Revels was born in North Carolina in 1827. He and his ancestors, as far back as he knew, had always been free. But many other African Americans were suffering under the heavy yoke of slavery.
Revels attended school in Indiana and Ohio. He was one of only a few black men in the country who attended college before the Civil War. Revels became a teacher and minister.
He traveled and worked in several states in the North and the South. While in Missouri, authorities arrested him and sent him to jail. His crime was preaching the gospel to black people. In his travels, he did not encourage slaves to run away from their masters. However, if he encountered a slave who was already running away, he helped the slave to escape.
During the Civil War, Revels helped recruit black soldiers to fight for the Union. He served in the Union Army as a chaplain.
After the Civil War, Hiram Revels was elected to the Mississippi state senate in 1869. Revels gained the respect and attention of his fellow state senators when he led a prayer on the opening day of the Mississippi state senate. At that time, state legislatures chose U.S. Senators. When the time came to select two men to represent Mississippi in the U.S. Senate, they chose Revels to be one of them.
On February 25, 1870, Hiram Revels took the oath of office in Washington, D.C. He became the first African American to serve in the U.S. Congress. During his term, he spoke out against segregation in education and public transportation and opposed efforts to infringe on the rights of African Americans.
Hiram Revels with his wife, Phoebe, and five of their daughters. Photo courtesy the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library.
Learn More
Watch this video about Hiram Revels.
Learn more about African Americans during the Reconstruction period at Homeschool History.
