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The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of Reconstruction
The untold story of the slaying of a Southern town’s ex-slaves and a white lawyer’s historic battle to bring the perpretators to justice
Following the Civil War, Colfax, Louisiana, was a town, like many, where African Americans 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 African Americans who had occupied a courthouse. With skill and tenacity, The Washington Post’s Charles Lane transforms this nearly forgotten incident into a riveting 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 justices’ verdict compromised the victories of the Civil War and left Southern blacks at the mercy of violent whites for generations. The Day Freedom Died is an electrifying piece of historical detective work that captures a gallery of characters from presidents to townspeople, and re-creates the bloody days of Reconstruction, when the often brutal struggle for equality moved from the battlefield into communities across the nation.
Following the Civil War, Colfax, Louisiana, was a town, like many, where African Americans 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 African Americans who had occupied a courthouse. With skill and tenacity, The Washington Post’s Charles Lane transforms this nearly forgotten incident into a riveting 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 justices’ verdict compromised the victories of the Civil War and left Southern blacks at the mercy of violent whites for generations. The Day Freedom Died is an electrifying piece of historical detective work that captures a gallery of characters from presidents to townspeople, and re-creates the bloody days of Reconstruction, when the often brutal struggle for equality moved from the battlefield into communities across the nation.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
148 people are currently reading
1398 people want to read
About the author
Charles Lane
23 books11 followersCharles Lane is a Washington Post editorial board member and op-ed columnist. A finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing, he was the Post's Supreme Court correspondent prior to joining the editorial board. As editor of The New Republic, he took action against the journalistic fraud of Stephen Glass, events recounted in the 2003 film Shattered Glass. He has also worked as a foreign correspondent in Europe and Latin America. He is the author of two previous books.
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May 23, 2025
A Study Of The Colfax Massacre
On April 13, 1873, Easter Sunday, a white posse of about 150 killed over 60 African Americans in a small town in central Louisiana on the Red River in what became known as the Colfax Massacre. The U.S. Attorney for Louisiana, James Beckwith, brought prosecutions against some of the perpetrators under Federal laws enacted to enforce the Reconstruction amendments. After a mistrial, Beckwith retried the defendants and secured three convictions. The defendants appealed to the Supreme Court which unanimously reversed the convictions in a case known as United States v. Cruickshank, decided in 1876. The case severely limited the power of the Federal government to enforce Reconstruction in the South. Indeed, it effectively ended Reconstruction. In his book, "The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction" (2008) Charles Lane offers a detailed factual and legal history of this critical, little-known event in American history. Lane wrote the book while working as a journalist covering the Supreme Court for the Washington Post.
Lane writes of the Colfax Massacre: "[I]n the entire bloody epoch of Reconstruction, there might never have been a bloodier one-day incident of white terror than this frenzied killing on Easter Sunday." Understanding the Colfax Massacre requires consideration of complex facts involving many groups and individuals. Thus, Lane begins his account with a "Cast of Characters". Lane divides the protagonists into seven groups: the Republicans, White Supremacists, Politicians, Judges, Lawmen, Lawyers, and Soldiers. This introductory division allows the reader to get to know the main characters and groups in what took place at the Colfax Courthouse. Understanding the events also requires a background in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments and the laws Congress passed to enforce them, which Lane provides in his book. Most fundamentally, understanding the Colfax Massacre requires familiarity with Reconstruction and with the broad disagreement in the United States about the proper scope of post-Civil War policy. This disagreement lies at the heart of Lane's book.
The central character and hero of Lane's history is James Beckwith, the U.S. Attorney in New Orleans from 1870 -- 1877. Upon learning of the events at Colfax, Beckwith hired an undercover agent from the Secret Service to work in the community and to learn what took place. With only mild support from Washington, D.C., Beckwith a took the massacre before a Grand Jury, arrested nine of the protagonists and put them on trial for their lives. He developed the case using, out of necessity, African American witnesses almost exclusively and, after a mistrial, retried eight of the defendants, securing three convictions. His actions, Lane argues, required great courage, legal skill, perseverance, and a commitment to the goals of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
In Lane's account, the Colfax Massacre resulted from a political conflict between Reconstructionists and white supremacist southerners. After a disagreement over the results of state elections in 1872, African Americans had occupied the Colfax Courthouse. Local whites organized a posse consisting in part of supremacist, terror organizations. They forced the African Americans into the courthouse, set it on fire, and fired upon them when the African Americans raised a white flag of surrender and tried to leave the burning courthouse. Then, the supremacists took prisoners, and shot them in the back, in groups of two, in the dead of night. A small number escaped and with other witnesses testified at the trial.
The facts of the Massacre are complex and Lane devotes about one-half of the book to their development and background in Reconstruction Era Louisiana. The story is convoluted and difficult to follow in places. After developing his understanding of what transpired, Lane turns to the legal history of the case.
Lane describes the trials in great detail. He also develops the underlying law to assist the reader in understanding the result. In addition to the trial judge, who presided, William Woods, Supreme Court Justice Joseph Bradley rode circuit and participated in the retrial. He delivered a legal opinion which basically held that the Federal courts had no legal authority to try the defendants for what were, Justice Bradley concluded, essentially state crimes. Lane describes Bradley's opinion in depth. Courageously, Judge Woods did not agree with Justice Bradley. The case went to the Supreme Court for resolution. Lane again describes closely the Supreme Court proceedings and the resulting unanimous opinion in the 1876 Cruikshank case. The effect of Cruikshank was to end, in most circumstances, the possibility of Federal enforcement of Reconstruction. The disputed presidential election of 1876, which formally ended Reconstruction, reinforced this result.
The factual background developed in this book about Louisiana Reconstruction politics and about Colfax are at times difficult to follow, but Lane's points and analysis come through clearly. The descriptions of the trials and of the law are lucid for a difficult subject. The book describes a specific event late in the Reconstruction period and can best be read by those with a good basic understanding of the Civil War and Reconstruction and of the sometimes competing goals of preserving the Union on the one hand and ending slavery and enforcing the rights of the Freedpeople on the other hand which resulted in differing views of the goals of both the Civil War and Reconstruction. "The Day Freedom Died" is an important, difficult book about a seminal, lasting issue in American history.
Robin Friedman
On April 13, 1873, Easter Sunday, a white posse of about 150 killed over 60 African Americans in a small town in central Louisiana on the Red River in what became known as the Colfax Massacre. The U.S. Attorney for Louisiana, James Beckwith, brought prosecutions against some of the perpetrators under Federal laws enacted to enforce the Reconstruction amendments. After a mistrial, Beckwith retried the defendants and secured three convictions. The defendants appealed to the Supreme Court which unanimously reversed the convictions in a case known as United States v. Cruickshank, decided in 1876. The case severely limited the power of the Federal government to enforce Reconstruction in the South. Indeed, it effectively ended Reconstruction. In his book, "The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction" (2008) Charles Lane offers a detailed factual and legal history of this critical, little-known event in American history. Lane wrote the book while working as a journalist covering the Supreme Court for the Washington Post.
Lane writes of the Colfax Massacre: "[I]n the entire bloody epoch of Reconstruction, there might never have been a bloodier one-day incident of white terror than this frenzied killing on Easter Sunday." Understanding the Colfax Massacre requires consideration of complex facts involving many groups and individuals. Thus, Lane begins his account with a "Cast of Characters". Lane divides the protagonists into seven groups: the Republicans, White Supremacists, Politicians, Judges, Lawmen, Lawyers, and Soldiers. This introductory division allows the reader to get to know the main characters and groups in what took place at the Colfax Courthouse. Understanding the events also requires a background in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments and the laws Congress passed to enforce them, which Lane provides in his book. Most fundamentally, understanding the Colfax Massacre requires familiarity with Reconstruction and with the broad disagreement in the United States about the proper scope of post-Civil War policy. This disagreement lies at the heart of Lane's book.
The central character and hero of Lane's history is James Beckwith, the U.S. Attorney in New Orleans from 1870 -- 1877. Upon learning of the events at Colfax, Beckwith hired an undercover agent from the Secret Service to work in the community and to learn what took place. With only mild support from Washington, D.C., Beckwith a took the massacre before a Grand Jury, arrested nine of the protagonists and put them on trial for their lives. He developed the case using, out of necessity, African American witnesses almost exclusively and, after a mistrial, retried eight of the defendants, securing three convictions. His actions, Lane argues, required great courage, legal skill, perseverance, and a commitment to the goals of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
In Lane's account, the Colfax Massacre resulted from a political conflict between Reconstructionists and white supremacist southerners. After a disagreement over the results of state elections in 1872, African Americans had occupied the Colfax Courthouse. Local whites organized a posse consisting in part of supremacist, terror organizations. They forced the African Americans into the courthouse, set it on fire, and fired upon them when the African Americans raised a white flag of surrender and tried to leave the burning courthouse. Then, the supremacists took prisoners, and shot them in the back, in groups of two, in the dead of night. A small number escaped and with other witnesses testified at the trial.
The facts of the Massacre are complex and Lane devotes about one-half of the book to their development and background in Reconstruction Era Louisiana. The story is convoluted and difficult to follow in places. After developing his understanding of what transpired, Lane turns to the legal history of the case.
Lane describes the trials in great detail. He also develops the underlying law to assist the reader in understanding the result. In addition to the trial judge, who presided, William Woods, Supreme Court Justice Joseph Bradley rode circuit and participated in the retrial. He delivered a legal opinion which basically held that the Federal courts had no legal authority to try the defendants for what were, Justice Bradley concluded, essentially state crimes. Lane describes Bradley's opinion in depth. Courageously, Judge Woods did not agree with Justice Bradley. The case went to the Supreme Court for resolution. Lane again describes closely the Supreme Court proceedings and the resulting unanimous opinion in the 1876 Cruikshank case. The effect of Cruikshank was to end, in most circumstances, the possibility of Federal enforcement of Reconstruction. The disputed presidential election of 1876, which formally ended Reconstruction, reinforced this result.
The factual background developed in this book about Louisiana Reconstruction politics and about Colfax are at times difficult to follow, but Lane's points and analysis come through clearly. The descriptions of the trials and of the law are lucid for a difficult subject. The book describes a specific event late in the Reconstruction period and can best be read by those with a good basic understanding of the Civil War and Reconstruction and of the sometimes competing goals of preserving the Union on the one hand and ending slavery and enforcing the rights of the Freedpeople on the other hand which resulted in differing views of the goals of both the Civil War and Reconstruction. "The Day Freedom Died" is an important, difficult book about a seminal, lasting issue in American history.
Robin Friedman
October 21, 2012
The most pertinent statement in this book appears in the epilogue - "The Confederate States of America lost the Civil War militarily and economically, but in the ways that mattered most to white Southerners--socially, politically, and ideologically--the South itself did not." Charles Lane begins his book with a narrative of what lead up to the Colfax Massacre and the Massacre itself. While this is a moderate portion of the book, he goes on to cover the attempts to arrest and bring to trial the perpetrators of the Massacre and the travesty of the justice system which were the trial(s) of these individuals and the Supreme Court case that let the criminals go 'unwhipped by justice.' From this book one can ascertain two major figures who allowed, nay, destined, "reconstruction" to fail--President Andrew Johnson of Tennessee fame and Supreme Court Justice Joseph P. Bradley. On their souls rest the innumerable lynchings, murders and other mayhem used to intimidate the freedmen in the South. Savagery was used to keep them from exercising their right to vote and to keep them in essentially little more than slave status.
May 23, 2024
Beautifully researched and visualized
A pivotal moment in history when abolitionists and freedmen stood at arms to defend freedom. After the Colfax Massacre that warfare degenerated into the terrorism of Jim Crow. I was amazed by the level of detail. At one point I was getting overwhelmed with too much many names. Couldn't remember who was who. To my surprise there was a chapter on The Cast of Characters. Ive never noticed anyone going so far to anticipate his readers needs. Well done.
A pivotal moment in history when abolitionists and freedmen stood at arms to defend freedom. After the Colfax Massacre that warfare degenerated into the terrorism of Jim Crow. I was amazed by the level of detail. At one point I was getting overwhelmed with too much many names. Couldn't remember who was who. To my surprise there was a chapter on The Cast of Characters. Ive never noticed anyone going so far to anticipate his readers needs. Well done.
March 14, 2025
Charles Lane centers a brilliant recounting of the black-hearted evil and hypocritical immorality of white supremacy around the Colfax massacre of at least 65 African Americans in 1873. A riveting and spellbinding account that confirms modern white supremacist republicans (formerly democrats) are doing the same crooked shit to corrupt elections and sieze power for the past century and a half. Essential reading to understand where the US is today and how it got here.
August 8, 2024
A critical review of reconstruction and racial violence after the civil war
This book exposes the political weakness of post civil war administrations by highlighting a single occasion of racial violence. More importantly, it reveals the dangerous downside of the U.S. Supreme Court's slavish devotion to bad precedents and collegiality amongst the Court's members.
This book exposes the political weakness of post civil war administrations by highlighting a single occasion of racial violence. More importantly, it reveals the dangerous downside of the U.S. Supreme Court's slavish devotion to bad precedents and collegiality amongst the Court's members.
January 30, 2025
This book is in two parts: it tells the story of the Colfax Massacre, and then follows the legal battle to bring some of the perpetrators to justice. This critical moment in the history of Reconstruction is very hard to read about. Not only were the atrocities of the Colfax Massacre horrific, but the legal aftermath cleared the way for continued atrocities and the gutting of federal power to protect the rights and lives of African Americans in the south. There was a brief slightly-hopeful moment where a few of the perpetrators were convicted (on only a few counts, and not of murder, but still it was notable as the prosecution witnesses were all African-American), but this was short-lived. Reading about the sunset of Reconstruction, the way all the perpetrators were considered "heroes", and the terror and violence that completely ran rampant, is heartrending.
I thought this book was well-written. It does need a lot of attention and focus at times, as there is a lot of detail and a lot of context. Also, every time a new person appears in the narrative, there is a page's pause while the new person's backstory is explored. This is important to know, but causes the narrative to be a bit stuttering at times and requires the reader to be able to pick up the traces again.
A hard read, due to content, but an essential one.
I thought this book was well-written. It does need a lot of attention and focus at times, as there is a lot of detail and a lot of context. Also, every time a new person appears in the narrative, there is a page's pause while the new person's backstory is explored. This is important to know, but causes the narrative to be a bit stuttering at times and requires the reader to be able to pick up the traces again.
A hard read, due to content, but an essential one.
February 22, 2014
This is a very difficult book to get into if you aren't necessarily familiar or don't really care about legal jargon, however it is necessary to tell the story.
There is a lot of background here and all of it is quite painful to recount. I think my mouth was hanging open for more than half this book just reading the horrendous things that happened. The entire story is so important to read and never forget... and reading such horrific things is just the way to not forget. I will say that this was not written in a way that over-dramatized the events, they were told in a pretty matter-of-fact way, put out there and moved on.
Overall this isn't really a great book. I think the writing is a bit dry and hard to get into and stay into, HOWEVER... I think this is very informative book about extremely important events in the history of this country... so if you have any inclination, curiosity or other hankering to read this you definitely should pick it up and give it a go.
There is a lot of background here and all of it is quite painful to recount. I think my mouth was hanging open for more than half this book just reading the horrendous things that happened. The entire story is so important to read and never forget... and reading such horrific things is just the way to not forget. I will say that this was not written in a way that over-dramatized the events, they were told in a pretty matter-of-fact way, put out there and moved on.
Overall this isn't really a great book. I think the writing is a bit dry and hard to get into and stay into, HOWEVER... I think this is very informative book about extremely important events in the history of this country... so if you have any inclination, curiosity or other hankering to read this you definitely should pick it up and give it a go.
December 1, 2009
Books like this are hard to read. This details the true story of the Colfax Massacre at which about 80 black men were beaten, burned and murdered by a lawless mob of whites in Louisiana during Reconstruction. An event which resulted in the murderers going free, the end of enforcement of civil rights laws and protections for southern blacks, and the establishment of the violent rule of white supremacists in the South for almost the next 100 years.
It's a horrible tragedy that highlights depravity, lack of humanity, and disrespect for the rule of law. Even more infuriating is that to this day in Colfax, LA there is an actual state historical marker commemorating the event that intimates the black victims were rioting and that the results of the case saved the south from "misrule." What a disgrace and an outrage...I'm writing Gov. Jindal a letter.
It's a horrible tragedy that highlights depravity, lack of humanity, and disrespect for the rule of law. Even more infuriating is that to this day in Colfax, LA there is an actual state historical marker commemorating the event that intimates the black victims were rioting and that the results of the case saved the south from "misrule." What a disgrace and an outrage...I'm writing Gov. Jindal a letter.
September 29, 2017
This is where it started folks and keeps it's presence in today's America. Charles Lane has written one of the most fascinating but very, very sad true account The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, The Supreme Court, and The Betrayal of Reconstruction is one of the most profound historical novels ever ascribed. A lot of folks right here in America wouldn't know a good book about true American History if their life depended on it. Plus, most couldn't tell the last historical book they read. They rather voice their uneducated opinions that have no voice fall to the ears of the uneducated and hateful. This novel brings to home what has been a nemesis, plaque, between racial, political, cultural, and sociological forces not only of that time but present America in living color. Read it for you won't be the same for all the lies and non-truths that got covered up in American History.
August 18, 2011
Disgusting what we, as human beings, do to other human beings....and get away with! This book has really peaked my interest in Civil Rights. Have another book on this massacre to read, and will be finding all the available sources given by the two books on the Colofax Massacre to read and study. A must read!!!
July 20, 2019
Great read
Helped me understand a lot about reconstruction and how it ended. This book explained how the foundation was laid for lynching in the south and how Jim Crow became the law of the land.
Helped me understand a lot about reconstruction and how it ended. This book explained how the foundation was laid for lynching in the south and how Jim Crow became the law of the land.
October 1, 2020
If you want to have a richer understanding of the legal circumstances that ended Black Reconstruction this is an excellent choice.
December 5, 2024
A distressing revelation of the beginning of the failing of reconstruction. There are necessarily, a lot of actors to cover in reviewing the tragedy at Colfax, followed by a fair amount of legalese. Both of these things make the book tough to plough through at times, but overall a worthy endeavor.
July 8, 2015
"The Betrayal of Reconstruction," is so fitting on this title. The story of the Colfax massacre is the embodiment of the failure that was reconstruction. Lane does an exceptional job taking technical legal issues and making it flow into an understandable work.
October 15, 2012
Incredible book. Well researched. A very sad event in the US history where Whites massacred Blacks and got away with it. From what should have been a slam dunk legal case got brought down by legal precedents and manueverings. Very suspenseful and told well.
March 31, 2013
First time in a long time that I haven't been able to put a book down. A really excellent expose of the events that went into how Reconstruction ended in the US, and how local they started regardless of how national it ended up being.
Fantastic book for any history buff.
Fantastic book for any history buff.
October 1, 2019
Eye opening and heartbreaking.
August 15, 2022
This is really compelling to read, but absolutely infuriating.
April 7, 2014
This book brought all the pieces home to me on why Reconstruction ended and Jim Crow began. I knew about the Rutherford B Hayes election and Plessy vs. Fergusson but didn't completely get the bigger picture and I definitely didn't know that civil rights rulings by the Supreme Court in the late 19th century were preventing improvement of laws now. One is that states primarily get to be a decision maker before the federal government which prevents laws from being implemented. I had never heard of the Colfax Massacre or the role Louisiana played in undermining Reconstruction. My only complaint was that the writing was difficult and didnt draw me in. Still, this is an important subject.
August 7, 2018
An interesting story, but the book often gets dragged down in unnecessary detail such that it often reads more like a textbook. Its coverage of the events leading up to the massacre is at times just mind numbing when the basic story could have been told with much less detail that would have made for a much better narrative. The recounting of the massacre itself is done well, but when the story shifts to the Supreme Court it is largely limited to long block quotes from the oral arguments. See Curriden's "Contempt of Court" for an example of how a book largely about a Supreme Court decision on federal efforts to protect civil rights can be riveting without sacrificing information.
May 31, 2016
Lane’s impressive research efforts to dot every i and cross every t cause a continuous narrative never to take hold. There is a cumbersome number of people mentioned in this story. And I understand the desire to cover all the players but it’s easy to get lost unless you are a fully dedicated reader. The legal aspect was rushed and another 30 pages of background wouldn’t have bloated the book. It’s still a worthwhile read to learn more about this time and place in our history.
December 19, 2017
The event and aftermath of this event is so disturbing. It was too intense to read at times.
It's also disappointing to know that the U.S. was set to prosper as a true union during Reconstruction until those efforts were derailed by white supremacists.
It's also disappointing to know that the U.S. was set to prosper as a true union during Reconstruction until those efforts were derailed by white supremacists.
February 5, 2024
Read it. And let the rage flow.
Read
March 2, 2018Heroic Stories Are Told
The Day Freedom Died is a novel written by Charles Lane telling the story of a U.S attorney, by the name of James Beckwith, who tries to get justice for those who died in the Colfax massacre. “Thanks in part to Klan intimidation of Republican voters,white and black Democrats had returned to power in Alabama, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia in the 1870’s elections.”
James Beckwith, tries to get justice for the 60+ innocent African Americans killed by confederate soldiers on the 3rd of April, 1873. Beckwith endures a lot of hardships to try to get justice for those innocent lives that were lost that day. Does Beckwith accomplish his goal to punish the executioners?
The main characters who were a part of this story were Joseph Bradley, Christopher Columbus Nash, Ulysses Grant, William Ward, Willie Calhoun, and James Beckwith. One thing that all these great characters have in common is that they all strive to get equal rights and justice for all people of color. Beckwith was my favorite character because he was the one who fought for there justice the most, he was the one who wanted equal rights the most.
This novel is set in the past, it’s a perfect example of a group of people standing up for what is right, which is justice for the deaths of the many who tried to do the same. The tone is very recognizable, it is somewhat still around in today’s world where there’s a minority that is being discriminated for a vacuous or fatuous reason.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about these historic events and likes reading about someone who tries to make a difference in the society by defending the less fortunate. I’d say it’s most appropriate to those from the ages of 13 and up because it’s still a very mature book for kids to read. Charles Lane definitely accomplished what he sought out to do, which was to teach about the racism and the inequality towards african americans in the 1800’s .
This historical non-fiction novel is sensational, but has a very somber storyline due to the fact that there were so many misconceptions about african americans back in the day. I personally thought that this book was magnificent and I really learned a lot from this novel, mostly about all the white supremacy in that era.
The Day Freedom Died is a novel written by Charles Lane telling the story of a U.S attorney, by the name of James Beckwith, who tries to get justice for those who died in the Colfax massacre. “Thanks in part to Klan intimidation of Republican voters,white and black Democrats had returned to power in Alabama, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia in the 1870’s elections.”
James Beckwith, tries to get justice for the 60+ innocent African Americans killed by confederate soldiers on the 3rd of April, 1873. Beckwith endures a lot of hardships to try to get justice for those innocent lives that were lost that day. Does Beckwith accomplish his goal to punish the executioners?
The main characters who were a part of this story were Joseph Bradley, Christopher Columbus Nash, Ulysses Grant, William Ward, Willie Calhoun, and James Beckwith. One thing that all these great characters have in common is that they all strive to get equal rights and justice for all people of color. Beckwith was my favorite character because he was the one who fought for there justice the most, he was the one who wanted equal rights the most.
This novel is set in the past, it’s a perfect example of a group of people standing up for what is right, which is justice for the deaths of the many who tried to do the same. The tone is very recognizable, it is somewhat still around in today’s world where there’s a minority that is being discriminated for a vacuous or fatuous reason.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about these historic events and likes reading about someone who tries to make a difference in the society by defending the less fortunate. I’d say it’s most appropriate to those from the ages of 13 and up because it’s still a very mature book for kids to read. Charles Lane definitely accomplished what he sought out to do, which was to teach about the racism and the inequality towards african americans in the 1800’s .
This historical non-fiction novel is sensational, but has a very somber storyline due to the fact that there were so many misconceptions about african americans back in the day. I personally thought that this book was magnificent and I really learned a lot from this novel, mostly about all the white supremacy in that era.
August 7, 2024
An interesting but somewhat shocking study of an event that took place in a small town in Louisiana in 1873 during the Reconstruction era. It was a time after the Civil War when the freedmen struggled to find their place in American society. The Republicans under President Grant tried to ensure they were given equality under the law, citizenship and the right to vote that was part of that vision. However, white supremacists throughout the south were trying to reverse that and this is a story of one such case where the freedmen were attacked by a white militia and slaughtered even after their surrender. Much of the book dwells on the court cases that were supposed to bring justice to the dead but failed to convict anyone. This is just one of many such incidents that occurred for many years until that justice was finally achieved in the 1960's.
July 30, 2023
Hard to read because of the subject matter, but definitely worth the read. Wish our current supreme court justices would read this to understand the current situation stems from incidents like this.
A must read
A must read
October 19, 2024
Very dense with courtroom drama, many conflicting accounts of “what really happened, and much to and fro chases up and down and up again on the Mississippi River. Much violence committed, mostly by whites against former slaves .
May 5, 2019
An important book about the Colfax Massacre and the legal proceedings that followed as white supremacists were unsuccessfully brought to justice at the end of the Reconstruction era.
December 31, 2019
An expertly-researched and well-written account of the Colfac Massacre- one of the ugliest and deadliest incidents in Reconstruction, and how the legal ramifications of it are still felt to this day.
January 28, 2024
This one is a gut punch.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews