Contents

List of members of the United States Congress who owned slaves

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By country or region Sub-Saharan Africa Contemporary Africa Trans-Saharan slave trade Red Sea slave trade Indian Ocean slave trade Zanzibar slave trade Angola Chad Comoros Ethiopia Mali Mauritania Niger Nigeria Seychelles Somalia Somali slave trade South Africa Sudan Zanzibar North and South America Pre-Columbian America Aztec Americas indigenous U.S. Natives United States Field slaves female Contemporary maps partus prison labor Slave codes Treatment interregional Human trafficking The Bahamas Canada Caribbean Barbados British Virgin Islands Trinidad Code Noir Latin America Brazil Lei Áurea Colombia Cuba Haiti revolt Restavek (Encomienda) Puerto Rico East, Southeast, and South Asia Human trafficking in Southeast Asia Bhutan Brunei China Booi Aha Laogai penal system India Debt bondage Chukri System Indonesia Japan comfort women Korea Kwalliso Malaysia Maldives Slavery in the Mongol Empire Thailand Yankee princess Vietnam Australia and Oceania Australia Human trafficking Blackbirding Slave raiding in Easter Island Human trafficking in Papua New Guinea Blackbirding in Polynesia Europe and North Asia Sex trafficking in Europe United Kingdom Penal Labour Slavery Denmark Dutch Republic Germany in World War II Malta Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Spain Sweden North Africa and West Asia Afghanistan Algeria Bahrain Egypt Human trafficking in the Middle East Iran Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Morocco Oman Palestine Saudi Arabia Syria Tunisia Qatar Yemen United Arab Emirates
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Related Common law Indentured servitude Unfree labour Fugitive slaves laws convention Great Dismal Swamp maroons List of slaves owners last survivors of American slavery Marriage of enslaved people (United States) Slave narrative films songs Slave name Slave catcher Slave patrol Slave Route Project breeding court cases Washington Jefferson J.Q. Adams Lincoln Emancipation Proclamation 40 acres Freedmen's Bureau Iron bit Emancipation Day
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This is a list of members of the United States Congress who enslaved Black and Indigenous Peoples. Slavery was legal in the United States from its beginning as a nation, having been practiced in North America from early colonial days.

Synopsis[edit]

At least 1,700 members of Congress enslaved Black and Indigenous Peoples at some point in their lives,^[1] including 374 senators, at least 1,477 representatives, at least 23 territorial delegates to the U.S. House, at least 6 members of the Congress of the Confederation, and at least 2 members of the Continental Congress.

Slaveowners, whether enslaving Black and Indigenous Peoples in office or previously as adults, represented 37 states in either house of Congress, from 1789 to 1923:

In addition, the following territories and insular areas were represented by contemporary or former slaveowners who were elected as delegates:

Numerous slaveowners, contemporary and former, served in the Continental Congress and the Congress of the Confederation, and slaveowning men constituted at least half of the membership of Congress from 1789 to 1819. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution formally abolished slavery in 1865, immediately after the end of the American Civil War. During Reconstruction, the number of former slaveowners declined, but then rose following the end of Reconstruction, followed by a gradual decline in the number of former slaveowners.

William Richardson of Alabama was the last of the continuous line of former slaveholders to serve in Congress, having died in office in 1914. The 64th Congress of 1915–1917 was the first full session to not have any contemporary or former slaveholders in its roster. The last slaveholder to ever hold office in Congress was Rebecca Latimer Felton, who was appointed to represent Georgia in the United States Senate for one day during the 67th Congress. In addition to being the first woman to serve in the Senate, she was the only female slaveowner to ever hold office in Congress.

On January 10, 2022, The Washington Post launched the first known database of documented contemporary or former slaveowners who held office in Congress and its preceding legislatures.^[2][1]

Senate[edit]

House[edit]

Representatives[edit]