Over 2,000 Black Men Hold Office During Reconstruction

During Reconstruction's peak years, more than 2,000 Black men held elected or appointed office across the former Confederate states, including 2 U.S. senators, 20 U.S. representatives, and hundreds of state legislators, sheriffs, judges, and school board members. South Carolina had a Black majority legislature. These officeholders built public school systems, passed civil rights legislation, and constructed infrastructure — accomplishments largely erased from histories written by 'Redeemer'-era