Congressional Enslavers

Who Were Our First Congressmen?
U.S. Government, U.S. History

The Washington Post undertook an original project to determine which of the 5,558 men and one woman who served in the U.S. Congress in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries were enslavers. Read and discuss “More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation.”

Teachers are provided with the student activity Who Were the 1,739 Members of Congress Who Enslaved People? It provides a chart to explore four of the congressmen. Information is provided for two members who are in the article, the database of slaveholders in Congress and linked to Biographical Directory of the United States Congress as well as a web search. They serve as a model for students to select two additional lawmakers and fill in the chart for them.

How I Wrote the Story
English, Journalism, U.S. Government, U.S. History

Washington Post reporter Julie Zauzmer Weil demonstrates how vital research is to her job. As writer of the Congressional Enslavers project, she provides insight into her process in How I Wrote the Story. Ask students to discuss what questions she is answering. In what way do past events influence her ability to conduct research of an early member of Congress? What resources does she recommend to conduct this type of research?

After discussing with students the information that Weil provides, teachers may select a member from your state in the interactive database of slaveholers. Note you can sort by state.

Click on the congressman’s name; you are linked to his entry in the Biographical Directory of the United States. Select an early member of Congress from another state to review and to get familiar with the database. These are the people who have been confirmed as owners of enslaved people. After reading the Biographical Directory of the United States entry, what next steps do you think Julie Zauzmer Weil might have taken to confirm this person was a slaveholder?

Read the Cartogram
Art, Mathematics, U.S. Government, U.S. History, Visual Arts

Informational graphics are integral parts of The Post’s Congressional Enslavers project both online and in print. For this project, you will find:

• The Post’s bar graph. “How the share of lawmakers who enslaved Black people changed over Congress’s first 130 years”

• The Post’s cartogram. “How the share of lawmakers who enslaved Black people changed by state”

• The Post’s interactive database. “Explore the database of slaveholders in Congress”

Adrián Blanco Ramos, who created the bar graph and cartogram, shares insight into the choice of a cartogram and its benefits in How to Read the Congressional Enslavers Cartogram. With students read the squares/states that he gives as examples. Students might also be asked to read and share what they discern about different states. Compare and contrast squares/states. Also, read the square in the upper left that relates information for the U.S.

The original cartogram and one updated in mid-February are included. The changes are small, but one square/state has changed significantly as more research has been completed for Arizona members of Congress. Updates to the database and the cartograms will occur at intervals as more answers to the uncertain status of lawmakers are found. Compare and contrast each update.

Meet America’s First Female Senator
Character Education, U.S. Government, U.S. History

Read and discuss “The last enslaver to join the Senate, in 1922, was its first woman.” Rebecca Latimer Felton was a complex lady. Get to know her better through discussion questions provided in Meet America’s First Female Senator.

Find Missing Congressmen
Research Skills, Social Studies, U.S. Government, U.S. History

The Washington Post has invited readers to join the search to confirm whether an early member of Congress was an enslaver. Give students Research Early Congressmen. The second page of the activity is a chart on which to record the data collected and where found.

You might review How I Wrote the Story. Also, go through the steps to follow. Let’s use a lawmaker who has been confirmed as a slaveholder to illustrate the steps: From the database select Mark Alexander from Virginia. In the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress entry, you learn he was “born on a plantation near Boydton, Mecklenburg County, Va.” and when he retired from political life, he “engaged in the management of his large estate.” What clues are provided? Where will you search for more information?

Your class may all search for the same “unknown” or you may wish to form research groups. The starting point for the search is always “Our checklist of lawmakers still left to research, sorted by state.”

Find New Perspective in the Slaveholders Database
Computer Science, Mathematics, U.S. History

We have provided some activities and suggestions for using the database of slaveholders as well as the database of the “unknowns,” lawmakers still to be confirmed as slaveholders or not enslavers.

With students visit the online database, Explore the database of slaveholders in Congress.

• What might your students find if they were to explore the online database with their own questions?

• They can filter by name and by state.

• They could identify members of the same Congress sessions.

• How might the links and the “read more” lead to new discoveries?

What Does It Mean for Today?
Character Education, Civics, Journalism, U.S. Government, U.S. History

“You can look at a lot of issues through this prism of where we started as a country, and where the people who held power were so often the same people who held slaves,” Julie Zauzmer Weil wrote. “And what does that mean for us now?”

Give students Is This a Story for Today? Five passages are quoted from the article “More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation.” Four questions are posed to bring students into the 21st century. Teachers may use the questions suggested in the activity and/or add additional ones.

Did Being an Enslaver Influence Legislation?
Character Education, Humanities, U.S. Government, U.S. History

Advanced students may be asked to use primary documents to understand points of view from the earliest debates on founding a nation through the 43rd Congress. Teachers may pose the question(s) or students may decide on a question on which they will focus their search.

The Library of Congress in “A Century of Lawmaking For a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates” has a digital collection that “brings together online the records and acts of Congress from the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention through the 43rd Congress, including the first three volumes of the Congressional Record, 1873-75.” Students will find an abundance of resources.

Meet the Other Members of Congress
U.S. Government, U.S. History

Jeannette Rankin. Joseph Marion Hernández. Robert M. Wilcox. Hiram Revels. Joseph Rainey.

The Senate and House of Representatives have resources to introduce students to all who have served as delegates, representatives and senators. Get acquainted with the first women, Hispanic, Asian and Pacific Islander and Black Americans to serve in the U.S. Congress and those who followed them. The following pages provide member profiles, historical data, interactive maps, artifacts, editorial cartoons and educational resources for educators.

• African American Senators

• Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Congress

• Black Americans in Congress

• Black-American Members by Congress, 1870-Present

• Hispanic Americans in Congress

• Minorities in the Senate

• Women in Congress

Do a Word Study
English, Reading, U.S. Government, U.S. History

This month’s Word Study | From Slave to Enslaved looks at the Slavic language origins of “slave.” In addition to its practice across centuries, religions and cultures, its connotation and idiomatic use are introduced. The study concludes with changes in stylebooks at The Post and other news organizations.

Purchase Irony and a Legacy
English, Genealogy, U.S. History

In “An old Virginia plantation, a new owner and a family legacy unveiled” Post reporter Joe Heim relates the story of the Miller families, past and present. In addition to the personal story, students learn about some of the resources used to search family history.

One Family’s Ironic Purchase provides close reading and discussion questions.

Find a Lost Lineage
Family History, Research, U.S. Government, U.S. History

Teachers might begin this activity by asking students what they know about their family history. Do they know the names of their grandparents and great grandparents? Where and when were they born? Do they have any family traditions?

Unearthing the Past, Finding Roots activity provides guidelines and resources for doing family history research. Included in its pages is the example of one family’s discoveries. Carol Porter, a former graphic designer in The Post’s newsroom, shares what cousins on her mother’s side and she found about the Dodson family ancestors and where they found the documentation.

Plan Your Family Story Search could be used by students to begin their family research project. Teachers could use it as a first progress report from students on how they are doing and areas where they may need some help.

Review Descendants
Character Education, Research, U.S. Government, U.S. History

Review "Episode 7 | An Inquiry Into the Law of Negro Slavery," part of Descendants, a Washington Post original series. Episode 7 examines Georgia’s citizen’s arrest law — laws that were codified in 1861 by Thomas Cobb, a lawyer, slave owner, Confederate Congressman, and co-founder of University of Georgia’s law school who wrote the book of record on why Black people should be enslaved.

Teachers are encouraged to review the other episodes in this project. They range from “Episode 1 | America’s Last Known Slave Ship,” to “Episode 3 | The Genetics of Race,” to “Episode 6 | Monuments and Mourning” and “Episode 9 | Voter Suppression.” And the most recent episode: “Episode 10 | White Supremacy in the U.S. Capital” which examines January 6, 2021, and looks back to America’s founding.

Visit the White House Historical Association
Character Education, Social Studies, U.S. Government, U.S. History

The White House Historical Association provides a number of resources that teachers may wish to review, especially the timeline, “Slavery in the President’s Neighborhood, a timeline with articles featuring different individuals.” For example:

• An Early Black Family’s Life in Lafayette Park

• The Enslaved Household of President Andrew Jackson

• Nancy Syphax — Life and Legacy

Hear More About Historic Race Riots
Character Education, Social Studies, U.S. Government, U.S. History

Reference is made in “The last enslaver to join the Senate, in 1922, was its first woman” to the Wilmington insurrection of 1898. Rebecca Latimer Felton gave a speech at an agricultural society meeting. It is believed that an editorial response by Alexander Manly, a Black newspaper owner, to her ideas was used as pretext for the violence. Read Sydney Trent’s “ A Black voting rights activist confronts the ghosts of racial terror in North Carolina” for one family’s living with the memories.

Read our curriculum resource guide, Tulsa Race Massacre, 1921.  Post articles, a book excerpt, essays and student activities give a picture of gossip, unearthed mass graves, the destroyed Greenwood community and the taboo that hid the truth.

Learn the Story Behind the Name 
Character Education, Civics, Social Studies, U.S. History 

Teachers might ask students if they know for whom their school, baseball field, street or subdivisions are named. If your school is named for a person from history, you can research more about that person. Perhaps, the school yearbook or newspaper archives can reveal information. Interview your school board member to learn how names were and are chosen. You might learn that all the first middle schools were named for poets. Or the baseball field is named for a beloved, long-time coach.

Some communities are changing the names of schools, streets and public buildings. For what reasons would you want to change a name? How important is it to preserve the history and to add context?  

Remove a Memorial? 
Art, Character Education, Social Studies, U.S. History 

Read and discuss “Theodore Roosevelt statue removed from outside New York’s Museum of Natural History.” What does this January 20, 2022, article have to say about: 

• A statue as a symbol 

• Implied subservience and subjugation 

• Involvement of descendants in the decision 

• Placement in a new setting with context 

Create a Memorial 
Art, Character Education, U.S. History, Visual Arts 

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opened in April 24, 2018. The Washington Post Art and Architecture Critic Philip Kennicott examines the message and form taken by Bryan Stevenson and his Equal Justice Initiative in “A powerful memorial in Montgomery remembers the victims of lynching.” Read and discuss the influences on the project and why Stevenson chose Montgomery, Alabama, to build it. Questions might include: 

• Does its symbolism communicate a clear message? 

• How does the memorial bring lynching home to visitors? 

• What is Kennicott’s evaluation of the steel, hilltop pergola? 

The structure memorializes the victims of lynching. If your students were to construct a memorial to an event in your community’s or state’s history, what would the event be? Discuss what would be the best form of memorial: a physical structure, a park, a monument, an outreach or annual event? 

More with Bryan Stevenson: 

• “Bryan Stevenson on teaching history and the pursuit of justice” 

CBS Sunday Morning, January 30, 2022, episode introduces the author of Just Mercy, the lawyer who represented clients in courts from Montgomery, Alabama, to the Supreme Court, and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. 

• In March 2021, The Post’s Joe Heim interviewed Bryan Stevenson. Read and discuss his responses in the Q&A in “The author of ‘Just Mercy’ says we’ve made talking about race political — and that has to change.” 

• Teachers may wish to review more of Stevenson’s ideas in his TED talk. 

Look to the Shore and Swamps 
English, Reading, U.S. History 

Read and discuss “Swamp is a haven from slavery in ‘Freewater.’” KidsPost interviews Amina Luqman-Dawson, author of Freewater, a young people’s novel set in the Great Dismal Swamp. It is here where enslaved people have escaped and created a village. In the different voices of her characters, she hopes “readers multiple perspectives and discover who and what they most connect with.”  

For further reading about the Eastern Shore then and now, read  

• “Turning Tides.” 

• “A Maryland attic hid a priceless trove of Black history. Historians and activists saved it from auction.” 

• Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad 

Have True Grit? 
Character Education, Psychology, U.S. History 

Give students True Grit and the Transformation from Slavery.With current discussions on privilege, Ivy League educations, college applications and diverse cultures, this activity has the potential to lead to refreshing and safe discussions on the topics of American history, technology, citizenship and career choices. It is also an excellent opportunity to discuss what it means to be successful.  Is success achieved by talent, hard work, who you know? Reflect on the concept of true grit. Is it a character trait that can be learned? 

For teachers of Psychology: Angela Duckworth is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania as well as a researcher and author.  Check out her research on the power of passion and perseverance and the role it plays in achieving long-term goals. 

TED Talk with Angela Duckworth  

Discover Seneca Village 
Family History, Research skills, Social Studies, U.S. History 

You may never have heard of Seneca Village without seeing signage in NYC’s Central Park or listening to a segment on CBS Sunday Morning. View the story with students. Are there similar villages or sections of your community that may have been established by former enslaved people or free men? Also see Grace Brooks in True Grit and the Transformation from Slavery. 

• Before Central Park: The Story of Seneca Village 

• Seneca Village: The historic settlement that disappeared 

Use the Library of Congress Slavery in America Digital Collections 
Geography, Music, U.S. Government, U.S. History 

The Library of Congress has rich digital collections of primary source materials, Slavery in America: A Resource Guide.” Teachers might review the divisions to decide which your students might explore — photographs, documents, sound recordings. For each of its divisions, the LOC has selected items to highlight. For example, approaches could ask students to 

• Begin with an Advanced Placement-type question using primary documents; select the best digital collection to answer the question; answer the question. 

 • Be an expert on one of the individuals (Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, James Madison), the musical eras, geographic areas, or legal questions (slaves and the courts, a century of lawmaking for a new nation). 

• Write an additional chapter in your history textbook using narratives and first-person accounts.  

Teach About Slavery 
U.S. Government, U.S. History 

The word "slave" does not appear in the U.S, Constitution, but the three-fifths clause—which counted three-fifths of a state’s slave population in apportioning representation — does. What was the influence of this constitutional inclusion and the fugitive slave clause (Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3) on elections, economics and the Atlantic slave trade?  

The Post’s DeNeen Brown reminds us of Carter J. Woodson in “Black History Month founder showed how schools should teach about race.” 

Teachers may wish to read “Teaching America’s truth,” by Joe Heim. It is part of The Dawn of America, a Washington Post project that examines the lessons students are learning about slavery, obstacles faced by teachers in teaching this difficult subject, the right age to introduce hard concepts about slavery to young students.  

Also included in this project is an illustrated quiz, “Test your knowledge on the history of U.S. slavery.” As students respond to the online quiz, they are told the answers. 

Post NIE Guide Editor | Carol Lange 

Post NIE Guide Art Editor | Donna McCullough