Georgia Expels Black Legislators from State Assembly

On September 3, 1868, the Georgia state legislature voted to expel its 33 Black members on the grounds that the state constitution did not explicitly give Black men the right to hold office. The expulsions were followed immediately by Klan massacres at Camilla (September 19, 1868) where white mobs killed 9 and wounded 30 Black Republicans at a political rally. Congress re-seated the members in 1869.