For all the fears expressed about black political power following the Civil War, Georgia had only elected one black member of the U.S. Congress, Jefferson Franklin Long, and for 100 years, he was the only black representative from Georgia.
Born a slave in Knoxville, Georgia, on March 3, 1836, his early life is uncertain. However, by the end of the Civil War he had received an education and was working as a tailor in Macon. His prosperous Macon business gave him the economic freedom to pursue a political career.
He was the first black member to speak on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and had the shortest term of any black member of Congress.
By 1867, he was active in the Georgia Educational Association, a group organized to protect and advance the interests of freed persons. He soon achieved prominence and traveled the state for the Republican Party, organizing local branches and encouraging black voter registration.