logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2019
44m 31s

The Black Congressmen of Reconstruction:...

iHeartPodcasts and CBS News
About this episode

During the 1870s, more than a dozen African American men, many of whom had been born into slavery, were elected to the U.S. Congress. These political pioneers symbolized the sky high hopes of millions of former slaves during the years right after the Civil War. It was a period that ended all too quickly. But it happened. Mo talks to Professor Henry Louis Gates, Reconstruction historian Eric Foner, and a descendant of one of the legendary lawmakers.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Dec 2024
Death of a Name | Reviving a Mobit
What do you think will be the top baby names of 2025? Will "Mildred" make a comeback? What’s in a name…that makes it popular to one generation, and downright ugly to the next? From "Bertha" and "Layla" to "Reagan" and "Katrina," history shows us that politics, pop songs and news ... Show More
42m 5s
Dec 2024
Marlene Dietrich Goes To War | Reviving a Mobit
We’re celebrating the birthday month of the iconic Marlene Deitrich by revisiting a special episode from the "Mobituaries" audiobook. Marlene Dietrich cemented her status as a Hollywood legend with a series of iconic performances that flouted traditional women's roles and ignited ... Show More
13m 7s
Dec 2024
Sammy Davis Jr.: Death of the Entertainer | Reviving a Mobit
This week, we’re celebrating the birthday of the legendary Sammy Davis Jr. by revisiting a special Mobit. From the age of three Sammy Davis, Jr. did it all better than anyone else - singing, dancing, acting, even gun spinning. Mo talks to friends and family about what drove him t ... Show More
50m 15s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2024
41 | Lord Give Me a Sign | It’s the Senate, and We in It
The Civil War’s over, countless Black people are making their way in a new and dangerous world, and their fight for equality and representation ain’t over. Two Black men – preacher Hiram Revels and the formerly enslaved Blanche Bruce – rise up during U.S. Reconstruction with diff ... Show More
38m 53s
Nov 2020
Black to the Future
A record number of Black candidates ran for office this year, representing not only their constituencies, but also the diversity of perspectives that exist among Black Americans. Don talks to two newly elected representatives, Mondaire Jones (D-New York) and Cori Bush (D-Missouri ... Show More
28m 22s
May 2023
Reconstruction Era | From the Ashes of War | 1
In the spring of 1865, the United States celebrated the end of four years of Civil War. As American soldiers laid down their weapons, four million formerly enslaved Black people in the South grappled with the daunting task of building new lives as free citizens in a nation still ... Show More
43m 7s
Feb 2021
Black History: The Black Panthers
<p>As part of our Black History coverage we look back at the Black Panthers and ask Professor Clayborne Carson of Stanford University "How radical was the US black rights group?" Also, we bring you an archive interview with Mary Wilson of the Supremes, we delve into the question ... Show More
50m 24s
Dec 2018
Political Parties - The Golden Age of the GOP | 4
As the Civil War came to a close, the government set its sights once again on the future of the United States. Working closely with a Republican President, the Republican Congress expected a swift and peaceful road to Reconstruction. But then, a mere four weeks into his second te ... Show More
47m 58s
Feb 2020
When Black Men Won the Vote
February 3, 1870. The 15th Amendment is ratified, which establishes the right to vote for black men in America. While Jim Crow laws would grip the south by 1877, there was a brief, seven-year window of opportunity. Half a million black voters turned out at the polls, and 2,000 bl ... Show More
18m 41s
Aug 2024
Thomas Mundy Peterson: The Story of the 1st Black Voter in the United States
On this episode of Our American Stories, this is the story of what happened shortly after the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibiting a citizen’s right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Here to tell a ... Show More
9m 29s
May 2023
Reconstruction: The Big Lie
Reconstruction has long been taught as a lost cause narrative. The true story is one of great force. The great force of a powerful activist Black community that strived to establish a multiracial democracy and achieved great successes and political power. The great force of a vio ... Show More
56m 46s
Nov 2020
Supreme Court Landmarks | Separate and Unequal | 3
After the Civil War, America began to rebuild a shattered nation. For the first time, the country could create a society without slavery, and a nation where Black people could forge their own path as independent citizens.But by the 1890s, the laws and policies that promised new r ... Show More
35m 30s
Feb 2025
Buffalo Soldiers | The Brass Letters | 1
In the spring of 1865, with the Civil War finally over, American lawmakers began to debate whether Black soldiers would have a permanent place in the peacetime Army. Some 180,000 Black men had fought in the Union ranks, but never before in the nation’s history had they been allow ... Show More
38m 35s