April 21, 2025 • 33 mins
Easter Sunday 1873 in Colfax, Louisiana became the site of one of America's deadliest acts of racial violence when a white paramilitary group led by Christopher Columbus Nash slaughtered over 150 Black Americans. Armed with rifles and even a cannon, these men attacked a courthouse where newly appointed Black officials had taken office, setting it ablaze and shooting those who attempted to escape the flames. This wasn't random violence but calculated terror designed to overthrow Reconstruction's promise of racial equality.
The Colfax Massacre erupted from a powder keg of political tension. During Reconstruction (1865-1877), the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments had abolished slavery, guaranteed citizenship with equal protection, and secured voting rights for Black Americans. Yet Louisiana's disputed 1872 gubernatorial election created parallel governments, with both Republican William Kellogg and Democrat John McEnery appointing competing officials throughout the state. In Grant Parish, deliberately created with a narrow Black voting majority, this contestation proved deadly.
Though nearly 100 white men were indicted for the massacre, only three were ever convicted. Even this small victory was nullified when the Supreme Court's landmark decision in United States v. Cruikshank (1876) overturned these convictions, ruling that the federal government could not prosecute individuals for violating citizens' constitutional rights. This devastating verdict effectively removed federal protection for Black Americans and gave what one historian called a "green light to terror" throughout the South.
The massacre wasn't an anomaly but part of a systematic campaign of violence designed to suppress Black political participation across the former Confederacy. For nearly 150 years, a Louisiana historical marker mischaracterized the event as a "riot" that "marked the end of carpetbag misrule"—a blatant celebration of white supremacist violence. Only in 2021 was this marker removed, and in 2023, a proper memorial finally honored the victims.
As descendants of both victims and perpetrators now work toward reconciliation through truth-telling, the Colfax Massacre reminds us how fragile progress can be and how vigilantly we must protect our hard-won civil rights.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:18):
Imagine Easter Sunday not filled with the usual
rebirth and hope, but marred byunspeakable carnage.
In 1873, in Colfax, louisiana,the joyous celebration of a
holiday was brutally shatteredin what became one of the
bloodiest episodes of racialviolence in American history.
Welcome to History's GreatestCrimes.
(00:38):
Today we delve into the ColfaxMassacre as a lens to understand
the tumultuous Reconstructionera that followed the Civil War.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Hi everyone.
I'm Elena, and alongside me isMichael.
On that fateful Sunday morningin central Louisiana, 1873, a
white paramilitary group underthe control of one, christopher
Columbus Nash, arrived in Colfaxwith a cannon, among other
types of serious ammunition.
150 men, many on horseback andarmed with rifles, soon grew to
(01:11):
300 as more locals joined in.
The group headed to thecourthouse where the newly
appointed sheriff and hisofficials were located.
There, they fired their cannoninto the courthouse building and
set the building on fire.
As people attempted to escapethe flames, christopher Nash and
his men shot them.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
But the violence didn't stay contained.
Nash's group spread outthroughout the town and began
targeting black residents.
In the end, three white men andover 150 black residents and
officials were killed.
News of the massacre spread innewspapers across the nation,
but ultimately only three whitemen were subsequently prosecuted
and convicted in an 1874 courttrial and ultimately the
(01:55):
infamous Supreme Court case ofthe United States versus
Cruikshank overturned theconviction, allowing the men to
walk free.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Wow, that's pretty bad.
More broadly, this horrificincident took place during a
period of American history knownas Reconstruction.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
That's right, elena.
Reconstruction spanning theyears 1865 to 1877, was meant to
rebuild a fractured nationafter the Civil War and
integrate newly freed AfricanAmericans as citizens.
Yet beneath the surface of thisambitious project lurked deeply
entrenched white supremacy,economic chaos and a relentless
(02:32):
scramble for political power inthe South.
This era wasn't merely aboutnew policies and legislation.
It was also defined byunprecedented social and
political violence, and theColfax Massacre stands as a
stark, terrible testament tothat violence.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
What makes Colfax so significant is how it exposes
the contradictions inherent inReconstruction.
On one hand, you had thepromise of freedom and equality
enshrined in the 13th, 14th and15th Amendments, which abolished
slavery, guaranteed citizenshipand equal protection and
secured voting rights.
(03:09):
Yet the resistance to thesesweeping changes was fierce and,
as we'll explore, the federalgovernment's efforts to enforce
these rights ultimately faltered.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Precisely this is a story of hope betrayed and
justice denied, a chillingreminder of the fragility of
progress in the face ofdeep-seated prejudice.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Stay with us as we unravel the events of that
fateful Easterax Massacre.
It's crucial to have a clearpicture of what Reconstruction
itself entailed.
Can you give our listeners abrief overview of this period?
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Absolutely, elena.
Reconstruction, generally datedfrom 1865 to 1877, was an
incredibly complex and contestedeffort to rebuild the southern
states after the Civil War and,perhaps more significantly, to
integrate the newly freedAfrican Americans into the
nations as citizens with rights.
The very term reconstructionimplies a need to rebuild not
(04:20):
just the physical infrastructureravaged by war, but also the
social, political and economicfabric of a nation, completely
changed by the abolition ofslavery.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
And at the heart of this effort, what, or who were
the driving forces?
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Well, initially, as the Civil War was going on,
politicians offered differentvisions and plans for how to
reunite the nation again.
For example, lincoln himselfpromoted his 10% plan, which
aimed for a lenientreintegration of former
Confederate states back into theUnion.
Once 10% of the votingpopulation took an oath of
(04:55):
allegiance to the United States,that state would be enfolded
back into the nation.
But as the Civil War concludedand the realities of
emancipation sank in, a factionwithin the Republican Party and
Congress, often called theRadical Republicans, pushed for
a more transformativereconstruction.
Their aspirations went beyondsimply reuniting the nation.
(05:17):
They sought to secure genuinefreedom and a measure of racial
equality to the formerlyenslaved peoples.
The belief that black menshould have the right to vote
was not merely a courtesy, butit was a means of political
participation and to ensure theloyalty of the South to the
union.
In 1867, the radicalRepublicans in Congress pushed
(05:40):
through the Reconstruction Actsthat required the political
inclusion of African Americansand men, especially in local,
state and federal elections.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
But it wasn't a straightforward path, was it?
There were immense obstaclesalong the way.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Indeed, the inherent challenges were staggering.
First and foremost was thedeep-seated racial prejudice
prevalent throughout the nation,particularly entrenched in the
South.
Many white Southerners resistedthe idea of Black equality and
political participation, andthis resistance manifested in
various forms, from theenactment of Black codes that
(06:18):
restricted the rights of AfricanAmericans, to outright violence
and intimidation.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
And beyond racial animosity, there were also
significant economic andpolitical challenges.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Absolutely.
The Southern economy was inruins after the war, heavily
reliant as it was, and had been,on enslaved labor.
The transition to a free laborsystem created massive upheaval
and uncertainty.
Politically, the struggle forpower was intense.
The old Southern elite soughtto regain control, often by
(06:51):
supporting candidates in theDemocratic Party who would
reestablish and enforce thetraditional economic and racial
hierarchy.
At the same time, newlyenfranchised African Americans,
along with their white allies,attempted to create a path to
civil rights and some semblanceof racial equality, often
through participation andsupport of the Republican Party.
This clash of interests oftenled to instability and conflict,
(07:16):
and this entire period wasmarked by tremendous social and
political violence.
One historian has described itas quote violence as real
politics in an attempt to takeback control of the political
South end.
Quote.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
And to address some of these fundamental issues, the
Constitution itself was amendedduring Reconstruction.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Yes, the Reconstruction amendments were
truly foundational the 13thAmendment, ratified in 1865,
abolished slavery in the UnitedStates.
The 14th Amendment, ratified in1868, which conferred
citizenship on African Americansand guaranteed them equal
rights and due process under thelaw.
Finally, the 15th Amendment,ratified in 1870, explicitly
(08:02):
extended the vote to all malecitizens, regardless of race or
previous condition of servitude.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yet, despite these ambitious goals and monumental
constitutional changes,Reconstruction is often viewed
as a period that ultimately fellshort of its promise.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Tragically.
That's true and, as we'vediscussed, there were
significant achievements,especially in establishing basic
rights and witnessing a periodof brief Black political
participation in state andfederal governments, but the
resistance from whitesupremacists, coupled with a
waning commitment from the North, led to the end of
Reconstruction, at least when itcame to intervention from the
(08:42):
federal government.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
And once federal troops were withdrawn, there
wasn't as much manpower oreffort to enforce Reconstruction
laws, which led to a reversalof progress for Black Americans
in the South.
The seeds of the failure ofReconstruction effort were sown
early, amidst organized violenceand the systematic undermining
of Black rights.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
So, elena, having painted the broad strokes of
Reconstruction for our listeners, let's zoom in on Louisiana, a
real powder keg during thistumultuous period of the 1860s
and early 1870s.
The struggle for control herewas particularly fierce.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Absolutely, Michael.
The sources paint a picture ofintense political polarization
in Louisiana, with Republicansand Democrats locked in a bitter
life and death struggle forpower and Democrats locked in a
bitter life-and-death strugglefor power.
One source explicitly statesthat, quote Reconstruction
Louisiana is most remembered forthe political violence that
made the state a battlefield.
(09:41):
End quote.
This wasn't merely aboutdifferent policy visions.
It was a fundamental clash overwho would govern and what the
very definition of citizenshipwould mean.
Who would govern and what thevery definition of citizenship
would mean.
Louisiana had long been divided, and Reconstruction only stoked
those existing tensions into aboiling point.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
And then we come to a pivotal moment that really
intensified these fires theelection of 1872 for the office
of Louisiana governor.
That election threw the entirestate into utter disarray
governor.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
That election threw the entire state into utter
disarray.
That's right.
The 1872 election was acomplete mess.
Both Republican candidateWilliam Kellogg and Democratic
candidate John McEnery claimedvictory in the election.
Both men then proceeded to eachappoint their own slate of
local officials, which of courseran according to political
party lines, slate of localofficials which, of course, ran
according to political partylines.
This unprecedented situationled to a lot of uncertainty and
(10:39):
dueling claims to governmentoffices.
In fact, it wouldn't be untilSeptember of 1874, over a year
and a half later, thatDemocratic candidate John
McInerney would finally concedethe election to William Kellogg.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
And it's within this chaotic environment that Grant
Parish emerged as a flashpoint.
Elena, can you tell ourlisteners what made Grant Parish
so significant and why itbecame such a magnet for this
conflict?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Certainly, michael.
For our listeners out thereunfamiliar with Louisiana, even
today, the counties and thestate are referred to as
parishes.
Grant Parish, located smack dabin the middle of the state, was
actually a product ofReconstruction, as one source
explains.
It, quote was one of a numberof new parishes created by the
Republican government in aneffort to increase local control
(11:25):
in the state.
End quote.
Interestingly, it was thebrainchild of Republican planter
William S Calhoun, a formerslaveholder who became a staunch
unionist and embraced theRepublican Party early on.
The Grant Parish borders wereeven drawn to quote ensure a
narrow black voting majority.
(11:46):
End quote.
And the town of Colfax becamethe parish seat.
In total, for the parish, therewere 2,400 Black men eligible
to vote, most of whom votedRepublican, and there were 2,200
white men eligible to vote,most of whom voted Democrat.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
So here we have a newly formed parish, a shining
symbol of reconstruction project, yet also a place where
competing interests weredestined to collide.
On the one hand, you have BlackRepublicans eager to exercise
their newly won rights,especially the right to vote in
a parish where they held ademographic advantage.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Exactly.
But on the other side, whiteDemocrats were determined to
restore white supremacy andregain political control.
They viewed the Republicanascendancy, especially with
active participation by Blackvoters, as quote unnatural and
untenable.
End quote this fundamentaldisagreement over who should
(12:44):
hold power and along whichracial lines set the stage for
inevitable conflict.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
At that.
Conflict is clear throughoutthe records for Grant Parish and
the town of Colfax.
For example, in the parishelections of 1868, the ballot
box had to be moved to ensureblack residents could vote.
The box had previously beenlocated in a local store in the
town of Colfax, but the storeowner publicly threatened to
whip any black man who votedRepublican.
(13:12):
And when the vote count latershowed that the Republican
candidate had won, a group ofwhite residents seized the
ballot box and threw it into theRed River.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yikes.
And adding to this tension, itwas also around this time that
we start to see the emergenceand increasing organization of
white supremacist groups, groupsthat weren't shy about using
intimidation and violence toachieve their aims.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Precisely.
Our sources mentioned groupslike the Knights of the White
Camellia and the Ku Klux Klanfiltering into Grant Parish.
Their tactics were squarelyaimed at suppressing the black
vote and undermining Republicanauthority.
This atmosphere of constantintimidation, with the
ever-present threat of violence,created the true powder keg in
(13:59):
Grant Parish, just waiting for aspark.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
As we mentioned before, the election for
Louisiana governor in 1872 ledto both candidates proclaiming
victory over the other.
In early 1873, the RepublicanWilliam Kellogg and the Democrat
John McInerney both held theirown inaugural ceremonies and
certified their lists of localcandidates, declaring themselves
(14:32):
to be the true governor ofLouisiana.
Among this list of localcandidates was the offices of
judge and sheriff for GrantParish.
The Republican William Kelloggappointed fellow Republicans
Robert Register to be the judgeand Daniel Wesley Shaw to be the
sheriff of Grant Parish.
In contrast, the Democrat JohnMcInerney appointed fellow
(14:55):
Democrats Alphonse Casabat asjudge and Christopher Columbus
Nash to be sheriff.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Keep Christopher Columbus Nash's name in mind as
we move forward.
He was a former Confederateveteran who had been a prisoner
in Ohio for a year and a halfduring the Civil War.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
They had to know that trouble was coming.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Absolutely, and in fact.
The federal government sent aBlack Union veteran named
William Ward to be thecommanding officer of a new
Louisiana state militia unit.
That unit would be based inGrant Parish to help control the
violence there.
When William Ward arrived, heimmediately called for more
troops to help keep the peace.
It was apparently very clearthat this wasn't going to end
(15:37):
well.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
In early March of 1873, the officials nominated by
Republican Governor WilliamKellogg arrived at the
courthouse in Colfax, louisiana.
First, although, to be morespecific, the Republican
officials found the doors to thecourthouse locked, but were
ultimately able to enter througha window.
They immediately occupied thecourthouse and took their oaths
(16:00):
of office, and black residents,feeling this tension beginning
to rise, started diggingtrenches around the courthouse.
They formed militia groups andstarted to drill, and this went
on for three weeks.
They formed militia groups andstarted to drill, and this went
on for three weeks.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
On March 28th, christopher Nash and other
Democratic officials arrived andbegan making plans to retake
the courthouse from theRepublican officials Over the
next few days.
Gunfire erupted occasionallybetween black and white militia
groups, with the threat ofviolence in the community.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
black women and children began to join the men
at the courthouse for protection.
And, adding to the tension,christopher Nash and his
supporters began spreadingrumors that black men were
preparing to kill all the whitemen and take the white women as
their own.
It also didn't help when theDaily Picayune, an
anti-Republican newspaper in NewOrleans, distorted events with
a headline that claimed that ariot was being carried out in
(16:56):
Grant Parish by Black men whocommitted quote fearful
atrocities.
End quote.
Such news attracted more peoplefrom the region to Grant Parish
to join Christopher Nash.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Many of those supporting Nash were themselves
former Confederate veterans,while many of the supporting
Republicans in Grand Parish wereformer Union veterans.
Things were bound to getviolent.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Nash and his men acquired a four-pound cannon
that fired iron slugs.
As the Klansman Dave Paul saidat the time, quote boys, this is
a struggle for white supremacy.
End, quote Boys, this is astruggle for white supremacy end
.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Quote On Easter Sunday, april 13th of 1873, Nash
and 300 armed men, most onhorseback and armed with rifles,
arrived in front of thecourthouse in Colfax.
Nash reportedly ordered theRepublican defenders of the
courthouse to leave and whenthat failed, nash gave the women
and children in the area 30minutes to leave.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Nash and his militia then rolled the cannon up to the
front of the courthouse andfired it.
When some survivors attemptedto flee the courthouse, nash
sent men on horseback after thefleeing men and they killed most
of them on the spot.
Nash's group then called againfor those inside the smoldering
courthouse to surrender.
What happened next isn'tentirely clear.
(18:17):
To surrender.
What happened next isn'tentirely clear.
According to some reports,someone within the courthouse
shot and wounded one of Nash'ssupporters standing outside.
According to other reports, themen in the courthouse were
stacking their guns, ready togive up, when the man himself
was just shot by friendly fireby an overexcited member of his
own force.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Regardless of what caused it, Nash and his men
began shooting, and the massacredidn't stop until over 150
Black residents and officialswere killed.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
A few days later, two companies of federal troops
arrived in Colfax.
They searched for Nash and hissupporters, but most had already
fled to Texas or elsewhere.
The officers filed a militaryreport in which they noted the
number of bodies found in andaround the courthouse and the
river.
They also noted the savagenature of many of the killings,
(19:07):
suggesting an out-of-controlsituation.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
The sheer brutality of what happened at Colfax.
It caused a national uproar,correct?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
In the wake of the massacre, the event was framed
in sharply divided racial terms.
Democratic newspaperspredominantly referred to it as
the Colfax Riot.
This terminology significantlydownplayed the scale and nature
of the killings, oftenminimizing the number of Black
victims and sometimes evenportraying the armed white men
(19:45):
as heroes who were quelling adisturbance or putting an end to
carpetbag misrule.
On the other hand, Republicannewspapers labeled the event a
massacre.
They shocked readers withgruesome details and
illustrations.
These visual representationsand the accompanying narratives
fueled a sense of outrage inmany parts of the North.
(20:06):
The disparity between callingit a riot versus a massacre
underscores the fundamentaldisagreement over its meaning
and the culpability of thoseinvolved.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
And what was the immediate federal response?
Was there an attempt to bringthose responsible to justice?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yes, there was a significant effort spearheaded
by James Roswell Beckwith, theUS attorney based in New Orleans
.
Beckwith sent an urgenttelegram about the massacre to
the US Attorney General andtried to bring indictments and
prosecutions.
Federal marshals werecommissioned to arrest the white
organizers and, as a result ofBeckwith's efforts, nearly 100
(20:47):
white men were indicted fortheir involvement in the
massacre.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Of those 100,.
However, only three men wereever found guilty.
These convictions were based onthe Enforcement Act of 1870,
which had been specificallydesigned to provide federal
protection for civil rights offreedmen by the 14th Amendment
against actions by terroristgroups such as the Klan.
However, this very small legalvictory proved to be short-lived
(21:13):
due to what would become alandmark legal challenge.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Ah, this leads us to the infamous Cruikshank case,
doesn't it?
What happened with the appeal?
Speaker 1 (21:23):
The convicted men appealed their case and this
eventually reached the UnitedStates Supreme Court.
In the case of the UnitedStates v Cruikshank, which was
decided in 1876.
The Supreme Court ruled thatthe Enforcement Act of 1870
applied only to actionscommitted by the state, and that
it did applied only to actionscommitted by the state and that
it did not apply to actionscommitted by individuals.
This meant that the federalgovernment could not prosecute
(21:45):
cases such as the ColfaxMassacre.
Instead, people who believetheir rights have been violated
had to seek justice from a stategovernment, not the federal
government.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
So the Supreme Court's ruling essentially
gutted the ability of thefederal government to intervene
in such cases.
The implications of that rulingmust have been devastating for
Reconstruction.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
The impacts of this decision were indeed devastating
.
It significantly weakened thefederal government's ability to
protect Black citizens from theviolence and effectively
undermine the entire project ofreconstruction.
As one historian has noted, thedecision essentially blocked
federal government fromenforcing laws against violence
in the South, and thus thisruling essentially gave a quote
(22:30):
green light to terror in thestates where local governments
were unwilling to do anythingabout it.
In short, the Cruikshankdecision severely curtailed the
reach of the federal power toensure the civil rights of
formerly enslaved peoples.
Colfax might seem like anisolated incident, a gruesome
(22:56):
anomaly in an otherwise hopefulchapter in American history, but
was it truly an exception ormerely the tip of a much larger,
darker iceberg of violenceduring Reconstruction?
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Sadly, michael, the Colfax Massacre was not an
isolated event at all.
It was a horrific manifestationof a deeply entrenched wave of
white supremacist violence thatswept across the South during
Reconstruction.
Organizations like the Ku KluxKlan and later the White League
didn't just act out of isolatedrage.
(23:28):
They employed systematic terrortactics to suppress Black
political participation,undermine Republican rule and
restore white supremacyparticipation, undermine
Republican rule and restorewhite supremacy.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
And the motivations behind all that brutality were
predominantly political right.
It was all about thedisenfranchising of Black voters
and regaining control of theSouth.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
The violence was fundamentally political.
The goal was straightforward tointimidate Black voters and
Republican leaders, effectivelynullifying the hard-won gains
from emancipation and theconstitutional amendments.
Paramilitary groups usedviolence and murder to terrorize
leaders among the freedmen andwhite Republicans, as well as to
(24:09):
repress voting among freedmenduring the 1870s.
This was violence as realpolitics, a brutal bid to seize
control of the South by anymeans necessary.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
It sounds like there was a climate of absolute
lawlessness, a raw, uncheckedimpunity that allowed for this
terror to flourish.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Indeed, there was a significant climate of impunity.
Democratic newspapers not onlyfailed to condemn the violence
against Black people andRepublicans, they often
expressed sympathy for theattackers.
Threats against black and whiteRepublican officials and
supporters were rampant.
In fact, there were there was asufficient number of murders of
(24:51):
white Republicans and blackactivists to lend a high level
of credibility to these threats.
Activists to lend a high levelof credibility to these threats.
For example, in Grant Parish in1868, the election commissioner
, a Black Republican, wasmurdered by a group of white
residents leading Democratsacross Louisiana and the South
openly to declare theirdetermination.
(25:12):
To quote force the whiteleaders of the Republican Party
in with us or run them out ofthe country or kill them.
Black residents will give us notrouble without their white
leaders.
End quote.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Were there other events out there that
demonstrate just how colossaland brutal this terror really
was, beyond just Colfax?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Yes, unfortunately, colfax was just one of many grim
examples of mass violenceduring Reconstruction.
Consider, for instance, inOctober of 1868 in Caddo Parish,
also in Louisiana, rumors ofBlack insurrection led to
multiple mass murders of Blackresidents, black men being shot
(25:59):
as they tried to swim across theRed River, and in another 30
black individuals were tiedtogether and shot.
In a particularly chillingepisode, seven black individuals
were chained inside of abuilding and burned alive.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
That's almost beyond belief.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
It gets worse.
In August of 1874, in the townof Cushota in Red River Parish,
the White League expelledRepublican officeholders in a
violent rampage, assassinatingsix white men and killing
between five to 15 Blackwitnesses in the process.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
And while all of this is awful, of course such events
weren't restricted to justLouisiana.
A governmental report onmurders in Texas between 1865
and 1868 documented 379 murdersof blacks committed by white
residents, while armedorganizations like the Ku Klux
Klan actively terrorized blackcommunities and union
(26:50):
sympathizers.
And in Arkansas, during the1868 terror campaign, over 200
political murders were recorded.
These horrifying instances,along with Colfax, then paint a
grim picture of the pervasiveand systematic violence of black
communities and their whiteallies that they were forced to
endure during Reconstruction.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Exactly.
This widespread terror was notrandom.
It was a calculated effort thatplayed a crucial role in the
eventual collapse ofReconstruction and the rise of
Jim Crow South.
The consistent pattern ofviolence and intimidation forced
Black Americans and theirprogressive allies into
increasingly perilous positions,ultimately undermining the very
(27:34):
promise of equality that theReconstruction amendments had
sought to establish.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
So what we're seeing here is not just a series of
isolated incidents, but indeed apattern, a deliberate, systemic
campaign of terror designed tomaintain white supremacy at any
cost.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
That's right, michael .
The Colfax Massacre was aparticularly brutal example.
The Colfax Massacre was aparticularly brutal example, but
it was emblematic of a muchlarger, deeply entrenched legacy
of racial violence duringReconstruction.
It stands as a grim reminder ofhow fear and hatred can be
weaponized to obliterateprogress and suppress
marginalized voices in America.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
And I think we should also note that the Colfax
Massacre in 1873 continued tostand as a symbol of racial
prejudice and violence even intothe 20th century.
In 1950, the LouisianaDepartment of Commerce and
Industry erected a state quoteOn this site occurred the Colfax
Riot, in which three white menand 150 black residents were
(28:41):
slain.
This event on April 13, 1873marked the end of carpetbag
misrule in the South end.
Quote this marker celebratedwhite supremacy by framing the
massacre as a positive turningpoint that ended Reconstruction
efforts, naming the massacre asa positive turning point that
ended reconstruction efforts.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
That's incredibly biased, but thankfully, on May
15th 2021, the old marker wasfinally removed by the state
after years of persistentactivism by scholars, activists
and students who recognized theharmful, inaccurate narrative
that it presented.
Then, on April 13th of 2023,the 150th anniversary of the
massacre, a new memorial to thevictims was unveiled.
This seven-foot granitemonument lists 57 Black people
(29:27):
confirmed to have been killedand features powerful artwork
that captures the experience ofBlack people during
Reconstruction.
This new memorial is a crucialstep in correcting the record
and telling a more accurate,inclusive story.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
It's powerful to see this collaborative effort to
change the narrative.
Why is the distinction betweenriot and massacre so important
in this context?
Speaker 2 (29:52):
The distinction is vital because it reflects two
fundamentally differentinterpretations of the event.
The term riot suggests achaotic, mutual outbreak of
violence, potentially implyingshared responsibility.
In contrast, massacreaccurately describes a one-sided
, brutal slaughter ofdefenseless people, emphasizing
(30:14):
the intentionality and racialterror behind the attacks.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Regarding that topic.
It appears that residents anddescendants of the attackers and
victims of the Colfax Massacreare attempting to come together
in a quest for the truth.
Two of the primary activistswho worked together to bring the
old monument down were ReverendAvery Hamilton and Dean Woods.
Hamilton is a descendant of thefirst man killed in the
massacre, named Jesse McKinney.
(30:40):
Dean Woods, on the other hand,is the descendant of one of the
attackers.
In one interview, Dean Woodsexplained that during the
Reconstruction era, any conflictinvolving black people were
frequently mislabeled as riot.
By reclaiming the term massacre, descendants and historians are
not only honoring the victims,but also confronting the true
(31:00):
nature of the violence.
This shift in language is a keyelement of the ongoing quest
for truth.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Another descendant Glacian, toby Shelton, added
that the people who weremassacred needed to be honored,
their names needed to be calledand the world needed to know
that they mattered.
He very significantly statedthat quote this act of
memorialization isn't aboutassigning blame to the present.
It's about reconciling with thepast through truth-telling.
(31:30):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Indeed, the legacy of the fading dream of
reconstruction reminds us thathistory is not simply a record
of past events.
It's a living dialogue thatcontinues to shape our present
and our future.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Exactly, and as we reflect on these events, we
understand that the strugglesfor voting rights and protection
against discrimination are notrelics of a bygone era, but part
of a continuing battle forjustice.
The lesson learned from theColfax Massacre and the ultimate
collapse of Reconstructionstill speaks to us today, urging
(32:03):
us to hold our institutionsaccountable and to never forget
that progress must be fiercelyprotected.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
With that in mind, dear listeners, we conclude this
dramatic moment in history.
I'm Michael.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
And I'm Alina.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
Until next time, stay curious.
Bye.
Imagine Easter Sunday not filled with the usual
rebirth and hope, but marred byunspeakable carnage.
In 1873, in Colfax, louisiana,the joyous celebration of a
holiday was brutally shatteredin what became one of the
bloodiest episodes of racialviolence in American history.
Welcome to History's GreatestCrimes.
(00:38):
Today we delve into the ColfaxMassacre as a lens to understand
the tumultuous Reconstructionera that followed the Civil War.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Hi everyone.
I'm Elena, and alongside me isMichael.
On that fateful Sunday morningin central Louisiana, 1873, a
white paramilitary group underthe control of one, christopher
Columbus Nash, arrived in Colfaxwith a cannon, among other
types of serious ammunition.
150 men, many on horseback andarmed with rifles, soon grew to
(01:11):
300 as more locals joined in.
The group headed to thecourthouse where the newly
appointed sheriff and hisofficials were located.
There, they fired their cannoninto the courthouse building and
set the building on fire.
As people attempted to escapethe flames, christopher Nash and
his men shot them.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
But the violence didn't stay contained.
Nash's group spread outthroughout the town and began
targeting black residents.
In the end, three white men andover 150 black residents and
officials were killed.
News of the massacre spread innewspapers across the nation,
but ultimately only three whitemen were subsequently prosecuted
and convicted in an 1874 courttrial and ultimately the
(01:55):
infamous Supreme Court case ofthe United States versus
Cruikshank overturned theconviction, allowing the men to
walk free.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Wow, that's pretty bad.
More broadly, this horrificincident took place during a
period of American history knownas Reconstruction.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
That's right, elena.
Reconstruction spanning theyears 1865 to 1877, was meant to
rebuild a fractured nationafter the Civil War and
integrate newly freed AfricanAmericans as citizens.
Yet beneath the surface of thisambitious project lurked deeply
entrenched white supremacy,economic chaos and a relentless
(02:32):
scramble for political power inthe South.
This era wasn't merely aboutnew policies and legislation.
It was also defined byunprecedented social and
political violence, and theColfax Massacre stands as a
stark, terrible testament tothat violence.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
What makes Colfax so significant is how it exposes
the contradictions inherent inReconstruction.
On one hand, you had thepromise of freedom and equality
enshrined in the 13th, 14th and15th Amendments, which abolished
slavery, guaranteed citizenshipand equal protection and
secured voting rights.
(03:09):
Yet the resistance to thesesweeping changes was fierce and,
as we'll explore, the federalgovernment's efforts to enforce
these rights ultimately faltered.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Precisely this is a story of hope betrayed and
justice denied, a chillingreminder of the fragility of
progress in the face ofdeep-seated prejudice.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Stay with us as we unravel the events of that
fateful Easterax Massacre.
It's crucial to have a clearpicture of what Reconstruction
itself entailed.
Can you give our listeners abrief overview of this period?
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Absolutely, elena.
Reconstruction, generally datedfrom 1865 to 1877, was an
incredibly complex and contestedeffort to rebuild the southern
states after the Civil War and,perhaps more significantly, to
integrate the newly freedAfrican Americans into the
nations as citizens with rights.
The very term reconstructionimplies a need to rebuild not
(04:20):
just the physical infrastructureravaged by war, but also the
social, political and economicfabric of a nation, completely
changed by the abolition ofslavery.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
And at the heart of this effort, what, or who were
the driving forces?
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Well, initially, as the Civil War was going on,
politicians offered differentvisions and plans for how to
reunite the nation again.
For example, lincoln himselfpromoted his 10% plan, which
aimed for a lenientreintegration of former
Confederate states back into theUnion.
Once 10% of the votingpopulation took an oath of
(04:55):
allegiance to the United States,that state would be enfolded
back into the nation.
But as the Civil War concludedand the realities of
emancipation sank in, a factionwithin the Republican Party and
Congress, often called theRadical Republicans, pushed for
a more transformativereconstruction.
Their aspirations went beyondsimply reuniting the nation.
(05:17):
They sought to secure genuinefreedom and a measure of racial
equality to the formerlyenslaved peoples.
The belief that black menshould have the right to vote
was not merely a courtesy, butit was a means of political
participation and to ensure theloyalty of the South to the
union.
In 1867, the radicalRepublicans in Congress pushed
(05:40):
through the Reconstruction Actsthat required the political
inclusion of African Americansand men, especially in local,
state and federal elections.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
But it wasn't a straightforward path, was it?
There were immense obstaclesalong the way.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Indeed, the inherent challenges were staggering.
First and foremost was thedeep-seated racial prejudice
prevalent throughout the nation,particularly entrenched in the
South.
Many white Southerners resistedthe idea of Black equality and
political participation, andthis resistance manifested in
various forms, from theenactment of Black codes that
(06:18):
restricted the rights of AfricanAmericans, to outright violence
and intimidation.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
And beyond racial animosity, there were also
significant economic andpolitical challenges.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Absolutely.
The Southern economy was inruins after the war, heavily
reliant as it was, and had been,on enslaved labor.
The transition to a free laborsystem created massive upheaval
and uncertainty.
Politically, the struggle forpower was intense.
The old Southern elite soughtto regain control, often by
(06:51):
supporting candidates in theDemocratic Party who would
reestablish and enforce thetraditional economic and racial
hierarchy.
At the same time, newlyenfranchised African Americans,
along with their white allies,attempted to create a path to
civil rights and some semblanceof racial equality, often
through participation andsupport of the Republican Party.
This clash of interests oftenled to instability and conflict,
(07:16):
and this entire period wasmarked by tremendous social and
political violence.
One historian has described itas quote violence as real
politics in an attempt to takeback control of the political
South end.
Quote.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
And to address some of these fundamental issues, the
Constitution itself was amendedduring Reconstruction.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Yes, the Reconstruction amendments were
truly foundational the 13thAmendment, ratified in 1865,
abolished slavery in the UnitedStates.
The 14th Amendment, ratified in1868, which conferred
citizenship on African Americansand guaranteed them equal
rights and due process under thelaw.
Finally, the 15th Amendment,ratified in 1870, explicitly
(08:02):
extended the vote to all malecitizens, regardless of race or
previous condition of servitude.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yet, despite these ambitious goals and monumental
constitutional changes,Reconstruction is often viewed
as a period that ultimately fellshort of its promise.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Tragically.
That's true and, as we'vediscussed, there were
significant achievements,especially in establishing basic
rights and witnessing a periodof brief Black political
participation in state andfederal governments, but the
resistance from whitesupremacists, coupled with a
waning commitment from the North, led to the end of
Reconstruction, at least when itcame to intervention from the
(08:42):
federal government.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
And once federal troops were withdrawn, there
wasn't as much manpower oreffort to enforce Reconstruction
laws, which led to a reversalof progress for Black Americans
in the South.
The seeds of the failure ofReconstruction effort were sown
early, amidst organized violenceand the systematic undermining
of Black rights.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
So, elena, having painted the broad strokes of
Reconstruction for our listeners, let's zoom in on Louisiana, a
real powder keg during thistumultuous period of the 1860s
and early 1870s.
The struggle for control herewas particularly fierce.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Absolutely, Michael.
The sources paint a picture ofintense political polarization
in Louisiana, with Republicansand Democrats locked in a bitter
life and death struggle forpower and Democrats locked in a
bitter life-and-death strugglefor power.
One source explicitly statesthat, quote Reconstruction
Louisiana is most remembered forthe political violence that
made the state a battlefield.
(09:41):
End quote.
This wasn't merely aboutdifferent policy visions.
It was a fundamental clash overwho would govern and what the
very definition of citizenshipwould mean.
Who would govern and what thevery definition of citizenship
would mean.
Louisiana had long been divided, and Reconstruction only stoked
those existing tensions into aboiling point.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
And then we come to a pivotal moment that really
intensified these fires theelection of 1872 for the office
of Louisiana governor.
That election threw the entirestate into utter disarray
governor.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
That election threw the entire state into utter
disarray.
That's right.
The 1872 election was acomplete mess.
Both Republican candidateWilliam Kellogg and Democratic
candidate John McEnery claimedvictory in the election.
Both men then proceeded to eachappoint their own slate of
local officials, which of courseran according to political
party lines, slate of localofficials which, of course, ran
according to political partylines.
This unprecedented situationled to a lot of uncertainty and
(10:39):
dueling claims to governmentoffices.
In fact, it wouldn't be untilSeptember of 1874, over a year
and a half later, thatDemocratic candidate John
McInerney would finally concedethe election to William Kellogg.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
And it's within this chaotic environment that Grant
Parish emerged as a flashpoint.
Elena, can you tell ourlisteners what made Grant Parish
so significant and why itbecame such a magnet for this
conflict?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Certainly, michael.
For our listeners out thereunfamiliar with Louisiana, even
today, the counties and thestate are referred to as
parishes.
Grant Parish, located smack dabin the middle of the state, was
actually a product ofReconstruction, as one source
explains.
It, quote was one of a numberof new parishes created by the
Republican government in aneffort to increase local control
(11:25):
in the state.
End quote.
Interestingly, it was thebrainchild of Republican planter
William S Calhoun, a formerslaveholder who became a staunch
unionist and embraced theRepublican Party early on.
The Grant Parish borders wereeven drawn to quote ensure a
narrow black voting majority.
(11:46):
End quote.
And the town of Colfax becamethe parish seat.
In total, for the parish, therewere 2,400 Black men eligible
to vote, most of whom votedRepublican, and there were 2,200
white men eligible to vote,most of whom voted Democrat.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
So here we have a newly formed parish, a shining
symbol of reconstruction project, yet also a place where
competing interests weredestined to collide.
On the one hand, you have BlackRepublicans eager to exercise
their newly won rights,especially the right to vote in
a parish where they held ademographic advantage.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Exactly.
But on the other side, whiteDemocrats were determined to
restore white supremacy andregain political control.
They viewed the Republicanascendancy, especially with
active participation by Blackvoters, as quote unnatural and
untenable.
End quote this fundamentaldisagreement over who should
(12:44):
hold power and along whichracial lines set the stage for
inevitable conflict.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
At that.
Conflict is clear throughoutthe records for Grant Parish and
the town of Colfax.
For example, in the parishelections of 1868, the ballot
box had to be moved to ensureblack residents could vote.
The box had previously beenlocated in a local store in the
town of Colfax, but the storeowner publicly threatened to
whip any black man who votedRepublican.
(13:12):
And when the vote count latershowed that the Republican
candidate had won, a group ofwhite residents seized the
ballot box and threw it into theRed River.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yikes.
And adding to this tension, itwas also around this time that
we start to see the emergenceand increasing organization of
white supremacist groups, groupsthat weren't shy about using
intimidation and violence toachieve their aims.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Precisely.
Our sources mentioned groupslike the Knights of the White
Camellia and the Ku Klux Klanfiltering into Grant Parish.
Their tactics were squarelyaimed at suppressing the black
vote and undermining Republicanauthority.
This atmosphere of constantintimidation, with the
ever-present threat of violence,created the true powder keg in
(13:59):
Grant Parish, just waiting for aspark.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
As we mentioned before, the election for
Louisiana governor in 1872 ledto both candidates proclaiming
victory over the other.
In early 1873, the RepublicanWilliam Kellogg and the Democrat
John McInerney both held theirown inaugural ceremonies and
certified their lists of localcandidates, declaring themselves
(14:32):
to be the true governor ofLouisiana.
Among this list of localcandidates was the offices of
judge and sheriff for GrantParish.
The Republican William Kelloggappointed fellow Republicans
Robert Register to be the judgeand Daniel Wesley Shaw to be the
sheriff of Grant Parish.
In contrast, the Democrat JohnMcInerney appointed fellow
(14:55):
Democrats Alphonse Casabat asjudge and Christopher Columbus
Nash to be sheriff.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Keep Christopher Columbus Nash's name in mind as
we move forward.
He was a former Confederateveteran who had been a prisoner
in Ohio for a year and a halfduring the Civil War.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
They had to know that trouble was coming.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Absolutely, and in fact.
The federal government sent aBlack Union veteran named
William Ward to be thecommanding officer of a new
Louisiana state militia unit.
That unit would be based inGrant Parish to help control the
violence there.
When William Ward arrived, heimmediately called for more
troops to help keep the peace.
It was apparently very clearthat this wasn't going to end
(15:37):
well.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
In early March of 1873, the officials nominated by
Republican Governor WilliamKellogg arrived at the
courthouse in Colfax, louisiana.
First, although, to be morespecific, the Republican
officials found the doors to thecourthouse locked, but were
ultimately able to enter througha window.
They immediately occupied thecourthouse and took their oaths
(16:00):
of office, and black residents,feeling this tension beginning
to rise, started diggingtrenches around the courthouse.
They formed militia groups andstarted to drill, and this went
on for three weeks.
They formed militia groups andstarted to drill, and this went
on for three weeks.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
On March 28th, christopher Nash and other
Democratic officials arrived andbegan making plans to retake
the courthouse from theRepublican officials Over the
next few days.
Gunfire erupted occasionallybetween black and white militia
groups, with the threat ofviolence in the community.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
black women and children began to join the men
at the courthouse for protection.
And, adding to the tension,christopher Nash and his
supporters began spreadingrumors that black men were
preparing to kill all the whitemen and take the white women as
their own.
It also didn't help when theDaily Picayune, an
anti-Republican newspaper in NewOrleans, distorted events with
a headline that claimed that ariot was being carried out in
(16:56):
Grant Parish by Black men whocommitted quote fearful
atrocities.
End quote.
Such news attracted more peoplefrom the region to Grant Parish
to join Christopher Nash.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Many of those supporting Nash were themselves
former Confederate veterans,while many of the supporting
Republicans in Grand Parish wereformer Union veterans.
Things were bound to getviolent.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Nash and his men acquired a four-pound cannon
that fired iron slugs.
As the Klansman Dave Paul saidat the time, quote boys, this is
a struggle for white supremacy.
End, quote Boys, this is astruggle for white supremacy end
.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Quote On Easter Sunday, april 13th of 1873, Nash
and 300 armed men, most onhorseback and armed with rifles,
arrived in front of thecourthouse in Colfax.
Nash reportedly ordered theRepublican defenders of the
courthouse to leave and whenthat failed, nash gave the women
and children in the area 30minutes to leave.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Nash and his militia then rolled the cannon up to the
front of the courthouse andfired it.
When some survivors attemptedto flee the courthouse, nash
sent men on horseback after thefleeing men and they killed most
of them on the spot.
Nash's group then called againfor those inside the smoldering
courthouse to surrender.
What happened next isn'tentirely clear.
(18:17):
To surrender.
What happened next isn'tentirely clear.
According to some reports,someone within the courthouse
shot and wounded one of Nash'ssupporters standing outside.
According to other reports, themen in the courthouse were
stacking their guns, ready togive up, when the man himself
was just shot by friendly fireby an overexcited member of his
own force.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Regardless of what caused it, Nash and his men
began shooting, and the massacredidn't stop until over 150
Black residents and officialswere killed.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
A few days later, two companies of federal troops
arrived in Colfax.
They searched for Nash and hissupporters, but most had already
fled to Texas or elsewhere.
The officers filed a militaryreport in which they noted the
number of bodies found in andaround the courthouse and the
river.
They also noted the savagenature of many of the killings,
(19:07):
suggesting an out-of-controlsituation.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
The sheer brutality of what happened at Colfax.
It caused a national uproar,correct?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
In the wake of the massacre, the event was framed
in sharply divided racial terms.
Democratic newspaperspredominantly referred to it as
the Colfax Riot.
This terminology significantlydownplayed the scale and nature
of the killings, oftenminimizing the number of Black
victims and sometimes evenportraying the armed white men
(19:45):
as heroes who were quelling adisturbance or putting an end to
carpetbag misrule.
On the other hand, Republicannewspapers labeled the event a
massacre.
They shocked readers withgruesome details and
illustrations.
These visual representationsand the accompanying narratives
fueled a sense of outrage inmany parts of the North.
(20:06):
The disparity between callingit a riot versus a massacre
underscores the fundamentaldisagreement over its meaning
and the culpability of thoseinvolved.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
And what was the immediate federal response?
Was there an attempt to bringthose responsible to justice?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yes, there was a significant effort spearheaded
by James Roswell Beckwith, theUS attorney based in New Orleans
.
Beckwith sent an urgenttelegram about the massacre to
the US Attorney General andtried to bring indictments and
prosecutions.
Federal marshals werecommissioned to arrest the white
organizers and, as a result ofBeckwith's efforts, nearly 100
(20:47):
white men were indicted fortheir involvement in the
massacre.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Of those 100,.
However, only three men wereever found guilty.
These convictions were based onthe Enforcement Act of 1870,
which had been specificallydesigned to provide federal
protection for civil rights offreedmen by the 14th Amendment
against actions by terroristgroups such as the Klan.
However, this very small legalvictory proved to be short-lived
(21:13):
due to what would become alandmark legal challenge.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Ah, this leads us to the infamous Cruikshank case,
doesn't it?
What happened with the appeal?
Speaker 1 (21:23):
The convicted men appealed their case and this
eventually reached the UnitedStates Supreme Court.
In the case of the UnitedStates v Cruikshank, which was
decided in 1876.
The Supreme Court ruled thatthe Enforcement Act of 1870
applied only to actionscommitted by the state, and that
it did applied only to actionscommitted by the state and that
it did not apply to actionscommitted by individuals.
This meant that the federalgovernment could not prosecute
(21:45):
cases such as the ColfaxMassacre.
Instead, people who believetheir rights have been violated
had to seek justice from a stategovernment, not the federal
government.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
So the Supreme Court's ruling essentially
gutted the ability of thefederal government to intervene
in such cases.
The implications of that rulingmust have been devastating for
Reconstruction.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
The impacts of this decision were indeed devastating
.
It significantly weakened thefederal government's ability to
protect Black citizens from theviolence and effectively
undermine the entire project ofreconstruction.
As one historian has noted, thedecision essentially blocked
federal government fromenforcing laws against violence
in the South, and thus thisruling essentially gave a quote
(22:30):
green light to terror in thestates where local governments
were unwilling to do anythingabout it.
In short, the Cruikshankdecision severely curtailed the
reach of the federal power toensure the civil rights of
formerly enslaved peoples.
Colfax might seem like anisolated incident, a gruesome
(22:56):
anomaly in an otherwise hopefulchapter in American history, but
was it truly an exception ormerely the tip of a much larger,
darker iceberg of violenceduring Reconstruction?
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Sadly, michael, the Colfax Massacre was not an
isolated event at all.
It was a horrific manifestationof a deeply entrenched wave of
white supremacist violence thatswept across the South during
Reconstruction.
Organizations like the Ku KluxKlan and later the White League
didn't just act out of isolatedrage.
(23:28):
They employed systematic terrortactics to suppress Black
political participation,undermine Republican rule and
restore white supremacyparticipation, undermine
Republican rule and restorewhite supremacy.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
And the motivations behind all that brutality were
predominantly political right.
It was all about thedisenfranchising of Black voters
and regaining control of theSouth.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
The violence was fundamentally political.
The goal was straightforward tointimidate Black voters and
Republican leaders, effectivelynullifying the hard-won gains
from emancipation and theconstitutional amendments.
Paramilitary groups usedviolence and murder to terrorize
leaders among the freedmen andwhite Republicans, as well as to
(24:09):
repress voting among freedmenduring the 1870s.
This was violence as realpolitics, a brutal bid to seize
control of the South by anymeans necessary.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
It sounds like there was a climate of absolute
lawlessness, a raw, uncheckedimpunity that allowed for this
terror to flourish.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Indeed, there was a significant climate of impunity.
Democratic newspapers not onlyfailed to condemn the violence
against Black people andRepublicans, they often
expressed sympathy for theattackers.
Threats against black and whiteRepublican officials and
supporters were rampant.
In fact, there were there was asufficient number of murders of
(24:51):
white Republicans and blackactivists to lend a high level
of credibility to these threats.
Activists to lend a high levelof credibility to these threats.
For example, in Grant Parish in1868, the election commissioner
, a Black Republican, wasmurdered by a group of white
residents leading Democratsacross Louisiana and the South
openly to declare theirdetermination.
(25:12):
To quote force the whiteleaders of the Republican Party
in with us or run them out ofthe country or kill them.
Black residents will give us notrouble without their white
leaders.
End quote.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Were there other events out there that
demonstrate just how colossaland brutal this terror really
was, beyond just Colfax?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Yes, unfortunately, colfax was just one of many grim
examples of mass violenceduring Reconstruction.
Consider, for instance, inOctober of 1868 in Caddo Parish,
also in Louisiana, rumors ofBlack insurrection led to
multiple mass murders of Blackresidents, black men being shot
(25:59):
as they tried to swim across theRed River, and in another 30
black individuals were tiedtogether and shot.
In a particularly chillingepisode, seven black individuals
were chained inside of abuilding and burned alive.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
That's almost beyond belief.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
It gets worse.
In August of 1874, in the townof Cushota in Red River Parish,
the White League expelledRepublican officeholders in a
violent rampage, assassinatingsix white men and killing
between five to 15 Blackwitnesses in the process.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
And while all of this is awful, of course such events
weren't restricted to justLouisiana.
A governmental report onmurders in Texas between 1865
and 1868 documented 379 murdersof blacks committed by white
residents, while armedorganizations like the Ku Klux
Klan actively terrorized blackcommunities and union
(26:50):
sympathizers.
And in Arkansas, during the1868 terror campaign, over 200
political murders were recorded.
These horrifying instances,along with Colfax, then paint a
grim picture of the pervasiveand systematic violence of black
communities and their whiteallies that they were forced to
endure during Reconstruction.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Exactly.
This widespread terror was notrandom.
It was a calculated effort thatplayed a crucial role in the
eventual collapse ofReconstruction and the rise of
Jim Crow South.
The consistent pattern ofviolence and intimidation forced
Black Americans and theirprogressive allies into
increasingly perilous positions,ultimately undermining the very
(27:34):
promise of equality that theReconstruction amendments had
sought to establish.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
So what we're seeing here is not just a series of
isolated incidents, but indeed apattern, a deliberate, systemic
campaign of terror designed tomaintain white supremacy at any
cost.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
That's right, michael .
The Colfax Massacre was aparticularly brutal example.
The Colfax Massacre was aparticularly brutal example, but
it was emblematic of a muchlarger, deeply entrenched legacy
of racial violence duringReconstruction.
It stands as a grim reminder ofhow fear and hatred can be
weaponized to obliterateprogress and suppress
marginalized voices in America.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
And I think we should also note that the Colfax
Massacre in 1873 continued tostand as a symbol of racial
prejudice and violence even intothe 20th century.
In 1950, the LouisianaDepartment of Commerce and
Industry erected a state quoteOn this site occurred the Colfax
Riot, in which three white menand 150 black residents were
(28:41):
slain.
This event on April 13, 1873marked the end of carpetbag
misrule in the South end.
Quote this marker celebratedwhite supremacy by framing the
massacre as a positive turningpoint that ended Reconstruction
efforts, naming the massacre asa positive turning point that
ended reconstruction efforts.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
That's incredibly biased, but thankfully, on May
15th 2021, the old marker wasfinally removed by the state
after years of persistentactivism by scholars, activists
and students who recognized theharmful, inaccurate narrative
that it presented.
Then, on April 13th of 2023,the 150th anniversary of the
massacre, a new memorial to thevictims was unveiled.
This seven-foot granitemonument lists 57 Black people
(29:27):
confirmed to have been killedand features powerful artwork
that captures the experience ofBlack people during
Reconstruction.
This new memorial is a crucialstep in correcting the record
and telling a more accurate,inclusive story.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
It's powerful to see this collaborative effort to
change the narrative.
Why is the distinction betweenriot and massacre so important
in this context?
Speaker 2 (29:52):
The distinction is vital because it reflects two
fundamentally differentinterpretations of the event.
The term riot suggests achaotic, mutual outbreak of
violence, potentially implyingshared responsibility.
In contrast, massacreaccurately describes a one-sided
, brutal slaughter ofdefenseless people, emphasizing
(30:14):
the intentionality and racialterror behind the attacks.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Regarding that topic.
It appears that residents anddescendants of the attackers and
victims of the Colfax Massacreare attempting to come together
in a quest for the truth.
Two of the primary activistswho worked together to bring the
old monument down were ReverendAvery Hamilton and Dean Woods.
Hamilton is a descendant of thefirst man killed in the
massacre, named Jesse McKinney.
(30:40):
Dean Woods, on the other hand,is the descendant of one of the
attackers.
In one interview, Dean Woodsexplained that during the
Reconstruction era, any conflictinvolving black people were
frequently mislabeled as riot.
By reclaiming the term massacre, descendants and historians are
not only honoring the victims,but also confronting the true
(31:00):
nature of the violence.
This shift in language is a keyelement of the ongoing quest
for truth.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Another descendant Glacian, toby Shelton, added
that the people who weremassacred needed to be honored,
their names needed to be calledand the world needed to know
that they mattered.
He very significantly statedthat quote this act of
memorialization isn't aboutassigning blame to the present.
It's about reconciling with thepast through truth-telling.
(31:30):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Indeed, the legacy of the fading dream of
reconstruction reminds us thathistory is not simply a record
of past events.
It's a living dialogue thatcontinues to shape our present
and our future.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Exactly, and as we reflect on these events, we
understand that the strugglesfor voting rights and protection
against discrimination are notrelics of a bygone era, but part
of a continuing battle forjustice.
The lesson learned from theColfax Massacre and the ultimate
collapse of Reconstructionstill speaks to us today, urging
(32:03):
us to hold our institutionsaccountable and to never forget
that progress must be fiercelyprotected.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
With that in mind, dear listeners, we conclude this
dramatic moment in history.
I'm Michael.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
And I'm Alina.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
Until next time, stay curious.
Bye.
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