The Day Freedom Died

The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction

Charles Lane

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
• Year: 2008
• ISBN:
  9781429936781
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

The untold story of the massacre of a Southern town's freedmen and a white lawyer's battle to bring the killers to justice: "Riveting." —The New York Times Book Review Following the Civil War, Colfax, Louisiana, was a town, like many, where African Americans and whites mingled uneasily. But on April 13, 1873, a small army of white ex–Confederate soldiers, enraged after attempts by freedmen to assert their new rights, killed more than sixty African Americans who had occupied a courthouse. With skill and tenacity, the Washington Post 's Charles Lane transforms this nearly forgotten incident into a riveting historical saga. Seeking justice for the slain, one brave US attorney, James Beckwith, risked his life and career to investigate and punish the perpetrators—but they all went free. What followed was a series of courtroom dramas that culminated at the Supreme Court, where the justices' verdict compromised the victories of the Civil War and left Southern blacks at the mercy of violent whites for generations. The Day Freedom Died is an electrifying piece of historical detective work that captures a gallery of characters from presidents to townspeople, and re-creates the bloody days of Reconstruction, when the often-brutal struggle for equality moved from the battlefield into communities across the nation. "Thoroughly readable, carefully documented." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Fascinating." — New Orleans Times-Picayune "An electrifying piece of historical reporting." — Tucson Citizen

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• PROLOGUE
• CHAPTER ONE - “WHOLESALE MURDER”
• CHAPTER TWO - FROM PLANTATION TO PARISH
• CHAPTER THREE - POWER STRUGGLE
• CHAPTER FOUR - WAR
• CHAPTER FIVE - BLOOD ON THE RED
• CHAPTER SIX - BLACK-LETTER LAW
• CHAPTER SEVEN - MANHUNT
• CHAPTER EIGHT - LOUISIANA ON TRIAL
• CHAPTER NINE - A JUSTICE’S JUDGMENT
• CHAPTER TEN - “IF LOUISIANA GOES …”
• CHAPTER ELEVEN - THE COURT SPEAKS
• EPILOGUE
• • AUTHOR’S NOTE •
• CAST OF CHARACTERS •
• Praise for Charles Lane’s The Day Freedom Died
• • APPENDIX • - HOW MANY DIED?
• • NOTES •
• SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY •
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INDEX
• • ABOUT THE AUTHOR •
• Notes
• Copyright Page