The Day Freedom Died
Subtitle: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Published: March 4, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 352
ISBN-13: 9780805083422
Subjects: History; History - U.S; History: American; Legal History; United States - Reconstruction Period (1865-1877); United States - State & Local - South; History / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877); United States - Civil War; 19th century; African Americans; Colfax; Crimes against; Louisiana; Massacres; Violence
Description: Following the Civil War, Colfax, Louisiana, was a town, like many, where Negroes 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 Negroes who had occupied a courthouse. Now, journalist Charles Lane transforms this nearly forgotten incident into a historical saga. Seeking justice for the slain, one brave U.S. 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 verdict compromised the victories of the Civil War and left Southern blacks at the mercy of violent whites for generations.--From publisher description.