On February 3, 1870, the 15th Amendment prohibited states from disenfranchising voters “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Twenty-two days later, Mississippi politician and minister Hiram Rhodes Revels put that declaration into practice by taking the oath of office to become the first Black senator in United States history. Wendell Phillips, a civil rights activist, marked the occasion by nicknaming Revels “the 15th Amendment in flesh and blood.” During the Civil War, which ended in 1865, Revels served as a chaplain and helped organize two regiments of the United States Colored Troops (USCT). Senators weren’t elected by popular vote until…
