Colfax+Massacre


 * __The Colfax Massacre__**

A. The Colfax Massacre
The Colfax massacre was the slaughter of African American men in Colfax Louisiana on Easter, April 13, 1873. Some historians argue that it was the largest mass murder in American history (depending on your definition of mass murder) and estimates of the dead range from 80-150. Most of the men were shot style after they ran out of the burning court house. (A fire that the white militia forced a black resident of Colfax to start.) It was in part a response to a contested election of 1872 which set up two parallel governments in Louisiana, in part a response to the Supreme Court ruling in the Slaughter-House cases, and it is seen as a major turning point in Reconstruction. It led to the Supreme Court ruling that said the Federal government could only defend the 14th amendment if it was violated by the state, not if it was violated by private militia groups (e.g. the KKK), a decision which did much to unravel radical reconstruction. Below is a YouTube video by Prof. David Blight of Yale talking about reconstruction and the Colfax Massacre. (Start 8 minutes in.) He is sort of a rock star in Civil War history, and I HIGHLY recommend his course on the civil war (Available for free on iTunes) for any commuters.

media type="youtube" key="IYwERxhnwdA" height="349" width="560" align="center" B. The best site: [|History of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments] I found a real lack of good websites on the Colfax Massacre. I found a few good powerpoints, and some decent descriptions of the event, but nothing I would really use with students. The most interesting thing I read was a paper written on the history of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. They drew a parallel between the legal implications of the Colfax Massacre (and the following court decisions) and a Supreme Court case involving a rape of a college student. The rape went unprosecuted because of the legal precident that was set during the Colfax Massacre. It seemed to give a convincing argument that tied a current event to the Colfax Massacre in a way that answered the age old history student questions "Why should I care?" and "What does this have to do with now?"

C. Primary Source: [|Several newspaper accounts of the tensions leading up to the massacre, and the massacre itself.] These are useful as examples of how newspapers sometimes get it wrong. They appear to be neutral descriptions of what happened, but reading them begs the question of how to be neutral in the reporting of a massacre. D. Benchmark Connection: I think the Colfax Massacre brings up all sorts of legal issues about the role of government in defending the Bill of Rights. According to the precident set by Colfax, the Federal government has no right to defend the 13th, 14th, and 15th ammendments when it is private individuals or organizations that violate these rights. That is delegated as a state right. I think a mock trial, or debate on this issue could make the massacre seem relevant to their lives today.