Ulysses S. Grant: Special Message to the Senate on Unrest in Louisiana

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Nearly a month after Grant sent his Sixth Annual Message to Congress, there was news of new trouble in Louisiana. Democrats had tried to take over the state legislature through a combination of trickery and force. Republicans regained the upper hand with the assistance of federal soldiers dispatched to the state house by General Philip H. Sheridan, who advocated treating white supremacist terrorists harshly. Sheridan's actions sparked criticism from people who were uneasy with the use of federal force in state political affairs. Grant felt compelled not only to defend his old wartime subordinate but also to remind Americans of the course of events in Louisiana over the past several years.

After outlining the events that had led to a disputed state election in 1872, Grant offers a blunt and explicit account of the Colfax massacre, where whites killed approximately a hundred blacks on April 13, 1873. Only a few of the whites were arrested and prosecuted, and in 1874 a federal district court decision challenged the ability of the federal government to intervene in such circumstances. State and local authorities failed to protect their black citizens: “Every one of the Colfax miscreants goes unwhipped of justice, and no way can be found in this boasted land of civilization and Christianity to punish the perpetrators of this bloody and monstrous crime.” He employs the same blunt language in recalling the killing of several Republicans in Coushatta, Louisiana: “Some of them were Republicans and officeholders under Kellogg. They were therefore doomed to death.… No one has been punished, and the conservative press of the State denounced all efforts to that end and boldly justified the crime.”

Grant reminds Americans that Democrats had used force in an effort to overthrow the Republican government in Louisiana in September 1874. That it is the federal government that draws criticism for intervening to stop bloodshed and protect blacks strikes him as reprehensible. Grant's 1875 message shows him at his angriest. However, lacking public support for continued intervention, Grant began to reassess the wisdom of undertaking such acts. Moreover, between court decisions that struck down key parts of congressional legislation and the ability of Democrats in the House of Representatives to block the passage of any new legislative initiatives, he felt increasingly helpless when it came to effecting lasting change.