My EOTO: Joseph Rainey

Half of the people in my class got assigned a topic from the Reconstruction Era to teach the rest of the class about. I was out sick for the class that my group presented, so I presented by myself. My topic that was assigned to me was Joseph Rainey. 

Joseph Rainey was born into slavery on June 21st, 1832 in Georgetown, South Carolina. There is not much on the internet about his family life, but it does say how his father was a successful barber and made a profit for their family that way. This is how they earned their freedom, they bought it. That is how a lot of people back then gained their freedom. Because South Carolina would not let African Americans have an education, Joseph Rainey was never taught anything and was forced to learn a trade. He picked up his father's trade of being a barber, and he also became very popular and successful. A few years later, he met a woman by the name of Susan Cooper and married her. They later had three children named Joseph, Herbert, and Olive. 

A few years later, the Civil War began. During the Civil War, most men were forced to do something contributing to the war if they were able to, that included Rainey. He helped the Confederates make defenses and weapons. He also did many other things during the war, but they were smaller, less significant jobs. Rainey thought his family was at danger in South Carolina, so him and his family fled to Bermuda. In Bermuda they made a life for themselves. Joseph opened another barbershop and his wife Susan opened up a store where she hand-made dresses. After the Civil War was over, the Rainey family felt as if the U.S. was safe enough to come back to. 

Joseph Rainey became a crucial campaigner for the Republican Party. So much that when one of the Republicans in Congress could no longer finish out his term, the people nominated Rainey. Because of his noble work in Congress, the next year he was nominated into the House of Representatives and is now well known for being the first African American in the House of Representatives. His main goals while serving included equality and justice for everyone because he was once a slave. This was very good for his family as they were once enslaved as well. This was a big deal back then and it caused a lot of controversy as you would expect. Even though the backlash was not good, it was still a crucial part of history and the Reconstruction Era. The Reconstruction Era is basically society "reconstructing" itself and its moral values because of the North winning in the Civil War . At this period, slavery was starting to abolish, and more slaves were being set free in the South. Altogether, Joseph Rainey was a key figure in history and set the standard for the rest of United States government and acceptance in society.