More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped..

[mahatmakanejeeves]

CeaseAndDeceaseHat Retweeted

Today I’m proud to publish a Washington Post project that I’ve worked on for a year: The first list of every historical slaveowner in the U.S. Congress.

More than 1,700 slaveholders were elected to Congress, over a period of well over a century.

Link to tweet

More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped...
The Washington Post has compiled the first database of slaveholding members of Congress by examining thousands of pages of census records and historical

More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation.

The Washington Post has compiled the first database of slaveholding members of Congress by examining thousands of pages of census records and historical documents

By Julie Zauzmer Weil, Adrian Blanco and Leo Dominguez
Jan. 10, 2022

From the founding of the United States until long after the Civil War, hundreds of the elected leaders writing the nation’s laws were current or former slaveowners.

More than 1,700 people who served in the U.S. Congress in the 18th, 19th and even 20th centuries owned human beings at some point in their lives, according to a Washington Post investigation of censuses and other historical records.

{snip}

The country is still grappling with the legacy of their embrace of slavery. The link between race and political power in early America echoes in complicated ways, from the racial inequities that persist to this day to the polarizing fights over voting rights and the way history is taught in schools.

The Washington Post created a database that shows enslavers in Congress represented 37 states, including not just the South but every state in New England, much of the Midwest, and many Western states.

{snip}

Julie Zauzmer Weil
Follow https://twitter.com/juliezweil
Julie Zauzmer Weil covers D.C.'s local government. She has worked at The Post since 2013, including four years covering religion in America.

Adrian Blanco
Follow https://twitter.com/AdrianBlancoR
Adrián Blanco Ramos is a graphic reporter in the graphics department at The Washington Post. He previously worked at Spanish newspaper El Confidencial focusing on data visualization, data analysis and investigative journalism. He participated in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalist’s Paradise Papers investigation.

Leo Dominguez
Leo Dominguez is a designer and web developer for The Washington Post.

[BeckyDem]

1. K&R for the historical record.

[appalachiablue]

2. Thanks, quite a list and good work compiling the info.

The Washington Post created a database that shows enslavers in Congress represented 37 states, including not just the South but every state in New England, much of the Midwest, and many Western states.

[CousinIT]

3. I love how the top of WaPo's page says "Democracy dies in darkness"

Then they slap the site visitor into darkness behind a paywall.

Pfft.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. Tell you what you can do.

With your library card in hand, pay a visit to your local public library's website. Go into the database and find the Washington Post there. You can read it online.

Just about every library will subscribe to the Washington Post. Give the library a call, as finding the paper in the database might be tricky.

This also works for those other big national newspapers, like the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Also, the WP used to allow gifting articles. I don't know if that ability went away as part of the war on Christmas. I can check.

{edited} Check Nevilledog's post. He's got the gift link.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216231811

HTH

[niyad]

4. KNR and bookmarking. For later.