Category:African American United States Senators

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Only five African Americans have served in the United States Senate. Two were appointed and three have been elected. (Until the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment -- which went into effect in 1914 -- all senators were appointed by state legislatures.)

The first African American in the Senate finished out Jefferson Davis's term. Two have represented Mississippi, two have represented Illinois, and one has represented Massachusetts. Barack Obama and Carol Moseley Braun are Democrats. The other senators were Republicans.