New Orleans Riot

The New Orleans Riot, was a violent conflict outside of the Mechanics Institute in New Orleans Louisiana Constitutional Convention in 1866. The Radical Republicans in Louisiana that reconvened the Constitutional Convention were angered by the enactment of the Black Codes in Louisiana and by the legislature's refusal to give black men the vote.

New Orleans had been under martial law imposed by the Union for the greater part of the American Civil War but on May 12, 1866 Mayor John T. Monroe was reinstated as acting mayor, the position he held before the civil war.

Tension builds

The Constitutional Convention of 1864 gave greater freedoms to blacks within Louisiana but did not provide for a provision for black voting rights. The black Republican radicals, with the intent of changing the voting laws of Louisiana and eliminating the Black Codes, attempted to reconvene the convention, and succeeded.⁶ At least 50 black Union war veterans were confirmed beaten to death in the street. The illegality of the convention was because the elected chairman Howell had left the original convention before its conclusion and was therefore was not considered a member, the constitution was accepted by the people, and the radicals, only 25 of whom were present at the convention of 1864, did not make up a majority of the original convention. On July 27th the black supporters of the convention met on the steps of the Mechanics institute and were stirred by many speeches by abolitionist activists, most notably Anthony Paul Dostie and former Governor of Louisiana George Michael Hahn. These speeches called for a march upon the Mechanics Institute to show support for the convention.

The backlash

The reaction to the New Orleans riot and a similar incident (Memphis Riots of 1866) was one of distaste for the present Reconstruction strategy and a change of leadership. In the 1866 House of Representatives and Senate elections, the Republicans won in a landslide winning 77% of congress⁹. A Reconstruction Bill was accordingly passed over the President's veto, early in 1867. Under act, Louisiana was put into the Fifth Military District. The effect in Louisiana was a removal of every political member associated with the riot and the ordering of the right to vote by all citizens except ex-Confederates.

Notes

• Note 1: Gilles Vandal, "The New Orleans Riot of 1866: Anatomy of a Tragedy," Journal of Southern History, Vol. 50 (February 1984), 137

• Note 2: Gilles Vandal, "The New Orleans Riot of 1866: Anatomy of a Tragedy," Journal of Southern History, Vol. 50 (February 1984), 137

• Note 3: John Kendall, History of New Orleans, (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1992), 305

• Note 4: Wikipedia contributors. "United States House election, 1866." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from:

"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_House_election%2C_1866&oldid=97062169"

• Note 5: Caryn Crosse' Bell, Revolution, Romanticism, and the Afro-Creole Protest Tradition in Louisiana 1718-1868 (Baton-Rouge: LSU Press 1997), 262

• Note 6: John Kendall, History of New Orleans, (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1992), 308

• Note 7: Caryn Crosse' Bell, Revolution, Romanticism, and the Afro-Creole Protest Tradition in Louisiana 1718-1868 (Baton-Rouge: LSU Press 1997), 261

• Note 8: John Kendall, History of New Orleans, (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1992), 312

, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_House_election%2C_1866&oldid=97062169"

Bibliography

• Bell, Caryn Crosse'. Revolution, Romanticism, and the Afro-Creole Protest Tradition in Louisiana 1718-1868. Baton-Rouge: LSU Press, 1997.

• Fortier, Alicee. A History of Louisiana Vol. 4 Part 2. Paris: Goupil and Company, 1904.

• Hollandsworth, James G. An Absolute Massacre: The New Orleans Race Riot of July 30, 1866

LSU Press, 2004

• Kendall, John. History of New Orleans. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1992.

• Mcpherson, Edward. The Political History of the United States of America During the Period of Reconstruction. Washington: Solomans and Chapman, 1875

• Reed, Emily Hazen. Life of A. P. Dostie, Or, The Conflict in New Orleans. New York: W.P. Tomlinson, 1868.

• Riddleberger, Patrick W. 1866, The Critical Year Revisited. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1979.

• Trefousse, Hans L. "Andrew Johnson." American National Biography Vol. 3. New York, New York: Oxford 1999.

• Vandal, Gilles. The New Orleans Riot of 1866: Anatomy of a Tragedy. Center for Louisiana Studies, 1984.

• Wainwright, Irene. Administrations of the Mayor's of New Orleans: Monroe. Louisiana Division New Orleans Public Library.

Retrieved from: "http://www.nutrias.org/info/louinfo/admins/monroe.htm" (Accessed February 4, 2007)

• Wikipedia contributors. "United States House election, 1866." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Retrieved from: "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_House_election%2C_1866&oldid=97062169" (Accessed February 10, 2007)

External links

• Online text of John Kendall's History of New Orleans
• Online text of Alicee Fortier's A History of Louisiana
• Online text of James G. Hollandsworth's book An Absolute Massacre: The New Orleans Race Riot of July 30, 1866
• Online text of Emily Hazen Reed's Life of A. P. Dostie, Or, The Conflict in New Orleans
• Center for History and New Media
• 'Impeach Andrew Johnson'