After working in South Carolina during Reconstruction, Cardozo received an appointment in 1878 at the U.S. Department of Treasury in Washington, D.C. Later he served twelve years as principal of a major public high school, was an advocate for school integration and lived in the nation's capital for the rest of his life.
[3] Their father arranged for the boys to attend a private school open to free people of color.
[4] After returning to the United States in 1864, Francis Cardozo became pastor of the Temple Street Congregational Church in New Haven, Connecticut.
During his term as secretary of state, he was chosen as professor of Latin at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and advised the governor of his intention to resign.
The governor helped approve an arrangement by which Cardozo could retain his state office and also teach at Howard.
[citation needed] He was reelected in 1874 and 1876, although the latter election was one in which Democrats swept most offices and took over control of the state legislature and governor's seat.
South Carolina elections, as in other southern states, had been increasingly marked by violence as Democrats sought to suppress the black Republican vote.
The 1876 gubernatorial election season was also violent and featured widespread fraud at the polls and disputes over counts.
As customary in a change of administrations, Hampton demanded the resignation of Cardozo and other members of the earlier government; Francis left office on May 1, 1877.
In 1884, Francis Cardozo returned to education as a principal of the Colored Preparatory High School in Washington, DC.
Because, being based on a system of oppression, injustice and discrimination they are radically wrong, and should not be backed by enlightened Christian sentiment.
[8] Francis's granddaughter, Eslanda Cardozo Goode, studied chemistry in college and was an anthropologist, author, actor and civil rights activist.
[9] In the 1994 historical drama North and South, Book III, Francis Cardozo was portrayed by actor Billy Dee Williams.