New Orleans Massacre (1866)

Mon Jul 30, 1866

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Image: A sketch of the New Orleans Massacre by Theodore R. Davis, Courtesy NY Public Library [blackpast.org]

On this day in 1866, the New Orleans Massacre took place when a delegation of 130 black city residents marching with the U.S. flag were attacked by a white lynch mob, including police, led by ex-Confederate Mayor John T. Monroe.

While the violence was typical of numerous racial conflicts during Southern Reconstruction, this incident took on special significance, galvanizing national opposition to the moderate Reconstruction policies of President Andrew Johnson and ushering in the much more sweeping Congressional Reconstruction in 1867.

The riot took place outside the Mechanics Institute in New Orleans as black and white delegates attended the Louisiana Constitutional Convention. As a delegation of 130 black New Orleans residents marched behind the U.S. flag toward the Mechanics Institute, Mayor John T. Monroe (who had supported the Confederacy) organized and led a mob of ex-Confederates and members of the New Orleans Police force to the Institute to block their way.

Once the marchers reached the Institute, the police and white mob members attacked them, beating some of the marchers while others rushed inside the building for safety. As the firing continued, some delegates attempted to flee or surrender.

Some of those who surrendered, mostly black people, were killed on the spot. Those who ran were chased, and the killing spread over several blocks around the Institute. Altogether, 238 people were killed and 46 were wounded, including 200 black Union veterans.

  • @Cypher
    4•4 months ago

    Every single man in the lynch mob should have been hung outside the New Orleans city hall. Traitorous bastards.