There were only two or three African Americans in the Tennessee legislature during Reconstruction, though others served as state and city officers. Even with increased participation on the Nashville City Council, African Americans held only one-third of the seats. Whites thus clearly continued to control the state during Reconstruction. In his race for Congress in 1872, Andrew Johnson addressed African Americans in speaking campaigns in western counties, saying, "If fit and qualified by character and education, no one should deny you the ballot."