The fight for control of the state government in Louisiana during Reconstruction represents a violent chapter in that state's history. Newly freed slaves began to run for office and former land owners used violence and other methods to prevent this from happening. This essay examined that history and how discriminatory policies established during that era have impacted contemporary American society and polity.
Louisiana: Race Relations During Reconstruction
Reconstruction and Race Relations
Louisiana: A Case Study in Race Relations during Reconstruction
Louisiana: A Case Study in Race Relations during Reconstruction
Southern Louisiana during the Civil War was quickly occupied by Union troops and the slaves began to flee plantations to Union-controlled cities like New Orleans and Natchez (Steedman, 2009). The influx created problems for the Army since they were both wartime refugees and de facto free, despite parts of southern Louisiana being excluded from the Emancipation Proclamation. As the war drew to a close in 1864 President Lincoln used Union-occupied Louisiana as a showcase for Reconstruction. Elections were held, governor and representatives selected, but Congress refused to recognize Louisiana's representatives. In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was enacted making any form of slavery illegal in the United States (Goluboff, 2001).
When elections were held again in 1865, control of Louisiana shifted to Southern Democrats (Steedman, 2009). Reconstruction under President Johnson resulted in Confederate soldiers having their lands returned, which made it difficult for the Freedmen's Bureau to find land that could be given to former slaves. Black Codes had been enacted by legislatures throughout the Southern states limiting the work opportunities of freedmen and race riots in New Orleans and Memphis made it obvious that second class citizenship was the only 'accepted' option available to former slaves and non-white free citizens. With Southern Democrats in control of the state government many whites were entertaining the possibility of restoring plantations to their former political and social glory.
Congress responded by placing Louisiana under military rule and former slaves began to run for political offices (Steedman, 2009). Republicans began to regain control of the state and local governments. A Constitutional Convention was convened in Louisiana and close to half the representatives in attendance were black. By 1870, slavery had been outlawed and a completely revised Constitution was enacted. The reaction, with hindsight, was fairly predictable. The only African-American running for office in the Ouachita Parish was shot and killed in 1868 and the use of violence to influence the political fate of Louisiana increased. A local newspaper in Ouachita Parish, the Quachita Telegraph, told planters not to hire any laborers who were members of the Republican Party or who would remain neutral when called upon to promote the planter's interests. The Democratic Party in Ouachita Parish also began to issue work permits to freed slaves if they joined the party.
The violence surrounding the 1968 elections prompted Congress to enact the Enforcement Acts between 1870 and 1871, giving the President the authority to enforce the law with force if necessary (Steedman, 2009). Prison terms and fines could be imposed on anyone convicted of interfering with elections. At the same time, Congress eliminated any restrictions on former Confederates wishing to run for office. The result was the least violent election in recent Louisiana history in 1872, but by far the most fraudulent. Polling places were closed early or moved and ballot boxes stuffed by both parties. By the time the dust had settled, two inaugurations for the newly elected governors were held and two legislative bodies were seated in New Orleans. When President Grant recognized only the Republican governor and his legislature and promised to use troops to enforce his will, white Democrats throughout the state began to talk about overthrowing what they viewed as an illegitimate government.
Citizen clubs (all white) began to form in an effort to restore control of the government to the 'people' (Steedman, 2009). Tax resistance was one of the initial strategies, but conservative newspapers like the New Orleans Times and Picayune urged citizen clubs to make their strength and power known (through violence if necessary). In April of 1873, hundreds of freed black men were burned alive after retreating to a courthouse in Colfax. Any freedmen that tried to escape were gunned down. The next year, both black and white Republican politicians were executed in Coushattam. The Ouachita Telegraph described the massacre in Colfax as a lesson in what happens to freedmen who assume they have the same rights as white citizens.
On September 14, 1974, the White League, a coalition of citizen club members, took control of the Louisiana government by force in New Orleans and replaced the Republican governor with their own (Steedman, 2009). The White League was a White Supremacist organization with ties to the Democratic Party. According to the Ouachita Telegraph, the raid on the capital was triggered by the New Orleans Police attempting to seize an arms shipment making its way to the White League. The police raid was led by the former Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, which suggests that not all Southern white conservatives agreed with the use of violence to reestablish white rule (Steedman, 2009). Fifty white and black leaders formed the Louisiana Unification Movement for the purpose of drawing freedmen away from the Republican Party, in the spirit of compromise, but this effort failed.
Discussion
Racist Democrats in Louisiana used a number of methods to control the social and political status of freedmen, including issuing work permits based on political affiliation, enacting Black Codes, engaging in election fraud, and the use of violence. Freedmen responded by running for office, joining the Republican Party, and revising the Louisiana Constitution to outlaw slavery in the state, while the U.S. Congress and the President enacted supportive legislation and occupied the state with military forces. Despite the strong response by the federal government and the courageous actions of former slaves, the political and social atmosphere during Reconstruction in Louisiana, especially the racially-motivated violence, made it clear that freedmen did not enjoy full citizenship.
Second class citizenship for freedmen was enforced by Black Codes enacted throughout the South. These Codes were designed to keep freedmen tied to and working on plantations (Stewart, 1998). Black Codes were passed at the local level throughout the South and were effectively vagrancies laws. Gary Stewart describes the Black Codes as one variation, in a long history of vagrancy laws, designed to keep second class citizens in their place. Based on Stewart's analysis, the Black Codes eventually led to passage of contemporary anti-gang legislation. For example, the Broken Windows policing strategy gives wide discretion to police officers to maintain social order, similar to the wording in Black Codes. One of the more famous examples is the now defunct "Stop-and-Frisk" policing policy used by the New York Police Department, which was recently held to be racially biased and therefore unconstitutional (Goldstein, 2013).
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