Armed confrontation between Republicans and Democrats in Colfax, Louisiana
The Colfax massacre was the deadliest racial violence of Reconstruction and shaped federal civil rights enforcement through United States v. Cruikshank (1876).
Key Facts
- Date
- April 13, 1873 (Easter Sunday)
- Black men killed
- Between 62 and 153
- White deaths
- 3
- Resulting Supreme Court case
- United States v. Cruikshank (1876)
- Location
- Grant Parish courthouse, Colfax, Louisiana
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The contested 1872 Louisiana gubernatorial election between Republican William P. Kellogg and Democrat John McEnery produced rival claimants to local offices. Amid widespread electoral violence and fraud, armed Black freedmen and state militia occupied the Grant Parish courthouse to defend the Republican outcome, while White paramilitary forces organized to retake it.
On April 13, 1873, a mob of former Confederate soldiers and Ku Klux Klan members armed with rifles and a small cannon overran the courthouse. Most Black defenders were killed after surrendering; nearly 50 more were executed later that night after being held prisoner for several hours. Between 62 and 153 Black men died. Historian Eric Foner called it the worst instance of racial violence during Reconstruction.
Federal prosecutors used the Enforcement Acts to convict several perpetrators, but the Supreme Court overturned those convictions in United States v. Cruikshank (1876), ruling that the Fourteenth Amendment restrained only state governments, not private individuals. This stripped the federal government of the power to prosecute paramilitary groups like the White League, enabling ongoing voter suppression that helped Democrats regain control of the Louisiana legislature by the late 1870s.
Political Outcome
White paramilitary forces massacred Black Republican defenders; subsequent Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Cruikshank (1876) gutted federal Reconstruction enforcement, enabling Democratic recapture of Louisiana state government.
Contested Republican administration under William P. Kellogg following the 1872 election
Democratic Party regained control of Louisiana state legislature by the late 1870s