- United States Senate, “Hiram Revels: First African American Senator.” The Senate states that Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first African American member of the U.S. Senate and took the oath on February 25, 1870. https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/senate-stories/First-African-American-Senator.html
- U.S. House of Representatives, History, Art & Archives, “Representative Joseph Rainey of South Carolina, the First African American to Serve in the House.” The House identifies Joseph Rainey as the first African American member of the U.S. House of Representatives and notes that Rainey and his parents were enslaved before his father purchased the family’s freedom. https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1800-1850/Representative-Joseph-Rainey-of-South-Carolina%2C-the-first-African-American-to-serve-in-the-House/
- United States Senate, “The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act.” The Senate records that the 1862 act freed enslaved people in Washington, D.C., and compensated owners up to $300 for each freed person. https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/civil_war/DCEmancipationAct_FeaturedDoc.html
- National Archives, “The Freedmen’s Bureau.” The National Archives states that the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was established by Congress on March 3, 1865, and was responsible for matters relating to refugees, freedmen, and abandoned or seized lands. https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/freedmens-bureau
