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The Colfax Massacre by Steve Payne
 Author
says: what if the
Colfax Massacre had triggered a more general crisis in the South? Please
note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the
views of the author(s).
In 1873, on April 8th an
armed revolt by former Confederates at Colfax on this day forced US
President Ulysses S. Grant to acknowledge the growing power of the southern
insurgency by declaring a State of Emergency in Louisiana.
After a bitterly contested gubernatorial election that highlighted the
power of forces still threatening to tear apart the Union, both candidates
had quickly declared themselves winners.
Unwilling to wait for a Republican federal judge in New Orleans to
declare Republican William P. Kellogg the victor, White Democrats had
moved quickly to put their man John McEnery in office. Seeking to regain
power, officially or unofficially, Whites armed with rifles and a small
cannon overpowered freedmen and state militia at the Great Parish Court
House.
In an event which would repeat itself in a horrifying cycle of violence
throughout the South, White Republican officeholders were not attacked but
at least 105 African Americans were killed after they surrendered.
Visiting U.S. Marshalls would made the grisly discovery of twenty bodies
thrown into the Red River, and a further twenty which had been secretly
buried.
Author
says to view guest historian's comments on this post please visit the
Today in Alternate History web site.
Other Contemporary Stories
Steve Payne
Editor of Today in
Alternate History, a Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History
That Never Occurred Today. Follow us on
Facebook, Myspace and
Twitter.
Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit
differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items
explore that possibility. Possibilities such as America becoming a Marxist
superpower, aliens influencing human history in the 18th century and Teddy
Roosevelt winning his 3rd term as president abound in this interesting
fictional blog.
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