Thomas Nast illustration of the New Orleans massacre of 1866

The Freedmen massacres were a series of attacks on African-Americans which occurred in the states of the former Confederacy during Reconstruction, in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Many of these incidents were the result of a struggle over political power, especially after the voting rights of freedmen were protected through the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[1] Robert Smalls estimated that overall 53,000 African-American were killed in post-war racial terrorism, an estimate increasingly considered plausible by historians.[2]

With reference to emancipation, we are at the beginning of the war.

— David L. Swain, former governor of North Carolina, 1865. as quoted in Eric Foner's Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution
Anti-black violence during Reconstruction
IncidentYearMonthStateCounty
or parish		Notes
Memphis massacre186605TennesseeShelby
New Orleans massacre186607LouisianaOrleans
Camilla massacre186809GeorgiaMitchell
Opelousas massacre186809LouisianaOpelousas
1868 St. Bernard Parish Massacre186810LouisianaSt. Bernard
Millican massacre186807TexasBrazos[3]
Jackson County War1869n/aFloridaJacksonOngoing for almost two years
Eutaw massacre 1870 Alabama
Meridian race riot of 1871187103MississippiLauderdale
Colfax massacre 1873 04 Louisiana Grant
Election Massacre of 1874 1874 11 Alabama Barbour
Coushatta massacre 1874 08 Louisiana Red River
Vicksburg massacre 1874 12 Mississippi Warren Ongoing for almost one month[4][5]
Battle of Liberty Place 1874 09 Louisiana New Orleans
Clinton Riot 1875 09 Mississippi Hinds
Hamburg massacre 1876 07 South Carolina Aiken
Ellenton riot 1876 09 South Carolina Aiken

North Carolina

  • "Four murders, 30 whippings, and 16 other horrible outrages" (1871, Alamance County)[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Southern Violence During Reconstruction". American Experience (PBS). Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  2. ↑ Magazine, Smithsonian; Egerton, Lisa Elmaleh,Douglas. "Terrorized African-Americans Found Their Champion in Civil War Hero Robert Smalls". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2023-12-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ Jones, Halle (2022-02-02). "1868 Millican Massacre: The secret left out of Brazos Valley History". 25 News KXXV and KRHD. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
  4. ↑ Fedell, Vera Ann (2022-12-16). "VICKSBURG FACTS: The bloody steps to the Vicksburg Massacre". The Vicksburg Post. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
  5. ↑ Edwards, Josh (2015-05-21). "Portrait of first black sheriff on display". The Vicksburg Post. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  6. ↑ "Ku Klux Klan: Appalling Record of Murder and Crime". New York Daily Herald. 1871-03-16. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
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