Georgia Legislature Expels All 27 Black Members

On September 3, 1868, the Georgia state legislature voted to expel all 27 of its Black members, arguing that the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed voting rights but not the right to hold office. The expulsion stripped Georgia's Black citizens of all representation. Congress responded by returning Georgia to military rule; when the state was readmitted in 1870 the expelled members were restored. The episode revealed how hostile state actors could hollow out constitutional protections through legali