The 80th
Georgia General Assembly
The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are direct ...
began in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...
in early 1869. This was the first session after the seat of government was moved from
Milledgeville, Georgia
Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon and bordered on the east by the Oconee River. The rapid current of the river here made this an attractive location to b ...
following the
Georgia Constitution of 1868. A new capitol building had yet to be built so sessions were held in the opera house on Marietta Street rented from
H.I. Kimball.
The new General Assembly contained 153 House members and 44 Senators. It was the first General Assembly in Georgia history to have
African-American members. All of the African-American men were temporarily expelled by the General Assembly by September 1868, and were reinstated by Act of Congress in 1870 shortly before the end of the 1870 session. The 80th Assembly was succeeded by the 81st Assembly, in which Democrats won a majority in both chambers and began to pursue harsh recriminations against Republicans in general and African-Americans in particular.
Members of the Georgia State Senate, 1868–1870
Members of the Georgia State House of Representatives, 1868–1870
African-American members
This was the first time in Georgia that African-Americans, including former slaves, were voted into office in large numbers.
Public education
The House passed a bill to establish a system of public school system on August 25, 1870 on a 70-29 vote. Bills had been filed by J. E. Bryant of Richmond, J. Mason Rice of Columbia, S. A. Darnell of Pickens, James Ward Porter of Chatham and Tunis Campbell Jr of Mcintosh. It was signed into law on October 13, 1870.
See also
{{portal, Georgia (U.S. state)
References
Georgia (U.S. state) legislative sessions
1869 in American politics
1869 in Georgia (U.S. state)