IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1359 

Condemning the atrocities that occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana, on July 

30, 1866, in which a White supremacist mob brutalized, terrorized, 

and killed dozens of Black Americans, and reaffirming the commitment 

of the House of Representatives to supporting the fundamental right 

to vote and to combating hatred, injustice, and White supremacy. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 15, 2024 

Mr. CARTER of Louisiana (for himself and Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the atrocities that occurred in New Orleans, 

Louisiana, on July 30, 1866, in which a White supremacist mob brutalized, terrorized, and killed dozens of 

Black Americans, and reaffirming the commitment of 

the House of Representatives to supporting the fundamental right to vote and to combating hatred, injustice, 

and White supremacy. 

Whereas, throughout United States history, people organizing 

and advocating for civil rights, especially for Black Americans, have faced deadly violence or the threat thereof; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•HRES 1359 IH 

Whereas, in the aftermath of the Civil War, numerous States 

passed ‘‘Black Codes’’ that aimed to disenfranchise Black 

Americans and limit the rights of former slaves; 

Whereas, in 1864, a Constitutional Convention in Louisiana 

adopted a new State constitution that abolished slavery 

but did not recognize Black people’s right to vote; 

Whereas, in December 1865, the General Assembly of Louisiana passed a series of laws that amounted to a ‘‘Black 

Code’’, restricting the freedom of former slaves and cementing White supremacist rule; 

Whereas the provisions of Louisiana’s Black Code conflicted 

with the soon-to-be-passed Civil Rights Act of 1866; 

Whereas spring 1866 elections in Louisiana resulted in many 

ex-Confederates winning seats over pro-Union and provoting rights candidates; 

Whereas, in June 1866, 2 weeks after Congress’s passage of 

the 14th Amendment, several original convention members and Louisiana Governor J. Madison Wells called for 

1864 Convention members to meet to discuss the possibility of reconvening the 1864 Constitutional Convention 

to revise the State constitution; 

Whereas Historian Gilles Vandal asserted that ‘‘The Civil 

Rights Act and its enforcement became closely connected 

to the controversial question of reconvening the 1864 

Convention in late July 1866’’; 

Whereas, on July 27, 1866, Governor Wells appointed Louisiana Supreme Court Judge R.K. Howell President pro 

tempore of the 1864 Convention, who in turn called for 

the Convention to reconvene on July 30, 1866, after the 

previous president of the Convention refused to recall the 

Convention; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•HRES 1359 IH 

Whereas New Orleans Mayor John T. Monroe, who had been 

previously removed from office for refusing to pledge loyalty to the Union, declared the Convention an ‘‘unlawful 

assemblage’’; 

Whereas, in advance of the Convention and foreseeing potential violence, the local army commander requested permission to intervene in the case of violence; President 

Johnson failed to provide such an order; 

Whereas, on July 30, 1866, 25 members of the Convention 

gathered at the Mechanic’s Institute in New Orleans to 

reconvene the Convention of 1864, but they failed to 

meet the quorum. 

Whereas a group of approximately 200 unarmed Black Americans, many of whom were veterans, marched up Burgundy Street to the Mechanic’s Institute to demonstrate 

support of the Convention’s intended expansion of the 

franchise, and protesters opposing the goals of the convention also gathered outside the Institute at the corner 

of Common and Dryades Streets; 

Whereas taunting and vitriol directed at the Black marchers 

led to an initial exchange of violence; 

Whereas police monitoring the Institute began firing on the 

marchers, and protesters and police besieged the Convention attendees inside the Institute; 

Whereas 2 to 3 hours of brutal violence led to an official total 

of 38 individuals killed and 146 wounded, with 34 of the 

dead and 119 of the wounded being Black and 3 of the 

dead being White Convention delegates, and some unofficial estimates have the number of Black Americans dead 

much higher; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•HRES 1359 IH 

Whereas 261 Black and 4 White Americans were arrested for 

rioting; 

Whereas General Absalom Baird, who had denied Mayor 

Monroe’s request for help in arresting the Convention 

delegates, wired to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton that 

afternoon, ‘‘Immediately after this riot assumed a serious 

character, the police, aided by the citizens, became the 

assailants, and from the evidence I am forced to believe, 

exercised great brutality in making their arrests. Finally, 

they attacked the Convention hall and a protracted struggle ensued. The people inside the hall gave up some who 

surrendered, and were attacked afterward and brutally 

treated.’’; 

Whereas, in reporting to Ulysses S. Grant at the Department 

of War, General Philip Sheridan noted that the peaceful 

delegates and supporters were attacked ‘‘with fire-arms, 

clubs, and knives, in a manner so unnecessary and atrocious as to compel me to say that it was murder . . . It 

was no riot. It was an absolute massacre by the police, 

which was not excelled in murderous cruelty by that of 

Fort Pillow. It was a murder which the Mayor and police 

of the city perpetrated without the shadow of a necessity.’’; 

Whereas opposition to the violence inflicted upon people attempting to ensure voting rights for Black Americans 

during the New Orleans Riots was a major issue in the 

election of 1866, and spurred the election of Presidentialveto-proof, pro-civil rights congressional majorities; 

Whereas, on December 6, 1866, the House of Representatives 

established a Select Committee to investigate the New 

Orleans Riots; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•HRES 1359 IH 

Whereas, on February 11, 1867, the Committee released its 

report saying in part ‘‘in view of the facts proved we are 

constrained to say that the time has fully arrived when 

Congress should intervene and should so legislate as to 

secure to the people of Louisiana a republican form of 

government . . . Until a loyal State of Louisiana exists 

in full political accord with the United States, and the 

demand of the Constitution is complied with that a government in republican form shall be guaranteed to the 

State, the objects of the war will not have been attained.’’; 

Whereas, on March 2, 1867, Congress overrode a Presidential 

veto to enact the First Reconstruction Act, which divided 

the former Confederate States into 5 military zones and 

set conditions for readmission, including requiring each 

southern State to draft a new State constitution that enfranchised Black male voters and required the southern 

States to ratify the 14th Amendment; 

Whereas, upon taking control of New Orleans under the Reconstruction Act, General Sheridan dismissed Mayor 

Monroe for his role in the New Orleans Riots; 

Whereas discussion of the New Orleans Riots was a significant driver of and a major part of the congressional debate about the First Reconstruction Act; 

Whereas a number of historians have asserted that the brutality and horror of the New Orleans Riots of 1866 gave 

impetus to the passage of the Reconstruction Acts, and 

ultimately ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments; 

and 

Whereas the New Orleans Riots were just a small part of a 

broader campaign of violence designed to prevent Black 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•HRES 1359 IH 

Americans from having their right to vote recognized: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) condemns the actions of the White su3 premacist mob that massacred voting rights orga4 nizers in New Orleans, Louisiana, on July 30, 1866; 

5 (2) honors the memory of the victims and ac6 knowledges the lasting impact that this incident has 

7 had on the Black community of New Orleans, Lou8 isiana; 

9 (3) recognizes that the Federal legislation cata10 lyzed by the New Orleans Riots, including the Re11 construction Act, the 14th Amendment, and the 

12 15th Amendment, are centerpieces of the United 

13 States attempt at inclusive, accessible, multiracial 

14 democracy; 

15 (4) recognizes that the goals of the legislation 

16 catalyzed by the New Orleans Riots are still unreal17 ized, and reaffirms the commitment of the Federal 

18 Government to the goals of meaningful universal 

19 voting rights held by the Convention delegates and 

20 their supporters; 

21 (5) expresses support for the designation of a 

22 national day of remembrance for the victims of the 

23 campaign of violence that attempted to deny the 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•HRES 1359 IH 

1 right to vote of Black Americans throughout United 

2 States history; and 

3 (6) reaffirms the commitment of the Federal 

4 Government to combat White supremacy and seek 

5 reconciliation for racial injustice. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS