REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF LOUISIANA ON THE CONDUCT OF THE LATE ELECTIONS, AND THE CONDITION OF PEACE AND ORDER IN THE STATE.
New Orleans [LA]: A.L. Lee, State Printer, 1868. 68pp. Stitched without wrappers. Old rubberstamp of Union League Club New York. A few shallow blank extremity chips. Good+.
During the election year 1868, "White gangs roamed New Orleans, intimidating blacks and breaking up Republican meetings" [Foner, Reconstruction 342]. Other Parishes experienced the same story; in St. Landry, a mob "invaded the plantations, killing as many as 200 blacks...Unable to hold meetings and fearful that attempts to bring out their vote would only result in further massacres, Georgia and Louisiana Republicans abandoned the Presidential campaign" [Id.]
The Republican Party controlled Louisiana's General Assembly. Its Report is a frightening picture of violent resistance to Reconstruction, describing "a state of lawlessness, terrorism and crime that is unparalleled in any civilized country." Not only are the "desperate and infamous characters" who directly perpetrate the violence responsible; blameworthy also is "that large and respectable class of the people of the State. . . who refrain studiously from any efforts to restrain or bring them to justice." The Report is a detailed, Parish-by-Parish examination of atrocities.
FIRST EDITION. Thompson 1226. Item #41040
Price: $600.00