Southern whites were not prepared to accept the revolutionary social changes implicit in emancipation. With the concurrence of Andrew Johnson’s administration, they tried to restore, in whatever form they could, the pre-war economic, social, and racial order. In Louisiana, the Constitutional Convention of 1864 allowed only whites to vote, so that ex-Confederates won the state elections of 1865 on a platform of suppression of the blacks. As the Democrats avowed in their 1865 platform, “We hold this to be a Government of the White People, made and to be perpetuated for the exclusive political benefit of the White Race.” After taking control, the Democrats enacted the Black Codes, which reduced the black man to virtual peonage. Radicals realized that to remain politically viable they must enfranchise the Negroes and disfranchise the ex-Confederates. By a process of dubious legality, they reconvened the 1864 Convention in the Mechanics Institute in New Orelans, on July 30, 1866. Crowds of bitter whites and jubilant blacks gathered outside. In the course of the hot afternoon, a white newsboy baited a black into shooting at him. Instead of arresting the Negro, the police began shooting at all the assmbled blacks. The whites then furiously assaulted the Hall; what happened there is described in the following account by a radical who was there. By the time federal troops arrived, 38 men were dead and 146 wounded. The event was among those exploited by Northern radicals to gain control of Congress in the 1866 elections, and take over the direction of Reconstruction in 1867.
The following testimony of J. D. O’Connell, a state Senator of Louisiana in 1864 and 1865 was given to a Congressional Committee investigating the riot (printed as H.R. No. 16, Thirty-Ninth Congress, Second Session, 77–9). See also Donald E. Reynolds: “The New Orleans Riot of 1866 Reconsidered,” Louisiana History, V (1964), 5–27.
As I entered the hall I found the convention, in accordance with the proclamation of the president pro tem., Judge Howell, had assembled, or rather a portion of them had assembled. As I entered I found the Rev. Mr. Horton offering prayer. There was a large number of spectators. I was invited within the bar by some of my acquaintances, members of the convention. I remained until a resolution was presented by Mr. Cutler, I think, that the sergeant-at-arms be despatched to notify absent members to come in. Subsequently he introduced another resolution to take a recess for half an hour or an hour—my recollection does not serve me which—until the sergeant-at-arms could notify members to appear. Immediately after this I heard what appeared to be music on the street. I went to one of the windows, looked out, and saw a crowd of people advancing towards the hall. It appeared to be a small procession. They had a United States flag at their head and a few brass instruments, pieces of music. When I first saw this I understood there was considerable excitement. I heard considerable noise in the street. Immediately afterwards the head of the procession entered the hall where the convention was to meet, and deposited their flag and instruments in the hall. I asked some gentlemen in regard to the nature of the procession, and was informed by the sergeant-at-arms that at a mass meeting held on the 27th—three days previous—the flag belonging to the hall had been taken away, and he supposed they were returning that flag. I heard some shots fired in the direction of Canal Street about that time, and saw people retreating towards Common Street. As the mass of people were retreating towards Common Street they came in view from the windows of the hall. I saw a policeman follow the crowd and discharge his revolver towards them. The people on the street were principally colored, and they took possession of a pile of brickbats on the street, quite close to the hall, and commenced firing them at the police and citizens acting with them, who were shooting their revolvers towards the negroes. As the crowds were driven further back towards Common Street I saw two colored men have long pistols, which appeared to be horse-pistols, and discharge them towards the police. These were the only arms I saw discharged toward the police. The police became very numerous about this time. I suppose there were no less than 2,000 police and citizens who assembled to attack this crowd of colored people. The colored people defended themselves until they were driven on towards Common Street. They then rallied again, and drove the police towards Canal Street. I believe they drove each other first towards Common and then towards Canal Street twice or three times, when the colored people were dispersed. During this time some shots were fired at the hall from the street by people coming from the direction of Canal Street. I saw there was danger that they would enter the building; I called upon Mr. Mollere, and asked him to assist me in closing the windows. The windows on both sides of the hall are so located (the building standing alone) that persons standing on Dryades Street could fire obliquely through them. The crowd outside became very threatening, and commenced firing into the windows. It consisted of police in uniform and others with badges; some having white handkerchiefs around their necks, some with blue ribbons in their button-holes, and some with a sleeve tied up. I recognized these marks distinctly. It is usual at large fires, and other places where difficulties are likely to occur, for persons to identify each other in this way, by buttoning up their coats, and tying a white handkerchief round their neck or round the arm. Mr. Mollere assisted me in putting the windows down. By this time the firing became so dangerous that I found that for my own safety I had to quit the windows. The crowd of negroes was driven up to Common Street, and then the mob driving them returned in the direction of the hall, placing themselves in front, on the steps of the Medical College, which is situated on the Common Street side of the hall, some on sheds, in the yard of that building, and on the fence, while others took position on the fences, sheds, and door steps of the houses in that vicinity on Canal Street. The only protection for the people within the hall was to get in the shade of the masonry between the windows, and to lie flat on the floor, which some did to avoid the firing, which came through the windows. At times I could see where bullets entering the hall would knock against the wall on the opposite side. The crowd continued firing on both sides into the hall in this way for perhaps ten or fifteen minutes before they attempted entering the building. Those who at first attempted to defend the building rushed terror-stricken up stairs. The first rush up stairs was made by the police and citizens, who fired upon the occupants of the hall without asking them to surrender or giving them any opportunity to. Some went into the middle of the hall and fired at the men who lay on the floor, which was very thick with men who had found it necessary to their safety to lie down. Persons lying right alongside me were shot by the police, and I saw that it was no more safe there than to stand. I got up, and advanced upon the door. About the same time Mr. Fish and Mr. Horton advanced to the door. At this time a policeman levelled his pistol at me and fired, but the ball did not hit me. I asked Mr. Horton not to come to the door. He was holding a white handkerchief, and asking the men for God’s sake not to murder them, saying they were not armed. I lost sight of Mr. Fish about this time, and I presume he went out. Mr. Horton returned, and showed me where he had been wounded in the arm. I advised him to find Dr. Hire, and have the blood stanched, or the ball extracted if necessary. I remained until the third attack. During this time the crowd of people in the room advanced upon the platform, and attempted to get out through the president’s room, a small ante-room situated at the side of the stage, but the entire space at the side of the building had been taken possession of by this crowd, and they found there was no exit. Several who were fool-hardy enough to jump fell among this crowd, and of course were killed before they could get over the fence. I looked through the windows, and saw the people on the fences with their revolvers, waiting to shoot anybody who would show themselves, and I saw the police shoot many colored people who attempted to escape. The second attack they entered again, and the police came up to negroes and white men, indiscriminately taking no prisoners, but shooting them as rapidly as possible. I saw one policeman, while a negro was kneeling before him and begging for mercy, shoot into his side. I saw another discharge his revolver into a negro lying flat on the floor. All this time I was anxiously hoping the military would arrive and quell the riot, and allow those in the hall to get away, either as prisoners taken to jail or otherwise. I had no choice. I would as soon have gone to jail, protected, as anywhere, although I was simply a spectator. There was no hope, however, that the military would arrive soon, and I suggested that we barricade the hall, and hold it until the military should come. It was the only chance we had. I succeeded in getting the chairs placed against the doors. The doors, however, opened into the lobby, and the fastenings outside were very soon torn off. We had no protection except the chairs, and they constituted very little, as it was easy to fire through between them. The police made another attack, and entered the hall, when those inside took the chairs and drove them out, and this they did two distinct times. On the fifth attack they entered again, headed by an officer who seemed to be a sergeant, from his uniform. He came to the door with a white handkerchief, opened it suddenly and waved his handkerchief. I supposed they had become human again, and that this meant that they were willing to give us protection. I went to the door and found Mr. S. S. Fish in the hall close by the door. I asked him to assist us in taking the chairs away. I spoke to this policeman and asked him if they meant to give us protection against the mob, who would kill us. He said “Yes, we’ll protect you.” I asked him if he was serious about it to let me have his hand, which he did. I, of course, had confidence then that he would do as he said, and afford us protection. I pulled the chairs down and drove the colored people from the door, so that their presence should not provoke the police to any further acts of violence. They very submissively went toward the other end of the hall. As the police entered the hall, one in the rear of the one I had spoken to advanced, calling out, “Yes, you G—d d—–d sons of bitches, we’ll protect you.” I had no confidence that they would protect us, but when they entered the hall, even this man who had tendered me his hand rushed forward with the others, discharging their pistols indiscriminately. One of the police, pointing his pistol towards me, said, “So you will surrender, you G—d d—–d son of a bitch,” and discharging his revolver towards my head, said, “Take that and go to hell, will you?” I was standing close to him, and had the presence of mind to throw up his hand, and the ball passed through my hat both in front and rear. I retired towards the door, and another policeman approached me with a long knife and struck at me. I defended myself against him with the leg of a chair and got back into the room. Those inside again rallied with broken chairs and whatever they could get hold of, and drove the police out. I suppose this was about twenty-five minutes of three o’clock. The fight had gone on continuously up to this time. I assisted in driving them out, and followed them to the top of the stairs. As I returned to the room again, the stairs being from ten to twenty feet distant, I found the doors shut and held against me, so that I had to remain in the lobby. If any of you have visited the buidling, you will recollect that the stairs are so situated that a person coming up them could not perceive a man standing in the lobby until nearly at the top. I thought it best to make as good an effort as possible to get down stairs, though I had no hope of escaping. When I found the crowd had again nearly reached the top of the stairs, seeing a vacancy near the foot of them, I jumped, and I suppose those persons below, not understanding what it meant, or thinking I was one of themselves, became panic-stricken. They went out and carried me along with them without knowing who I was. As I got on to the street I saw a line of police standing like soldiers across Dryades Street, towards Canal Street. Parties would leave their positions, go to the sides of the building and fire their revolvers into the hall. I went to two of them and tried to get their numbers, so that I could know who they were, but their hat-bands, on which they wore the letters “police” and the number, were turned wrong side out. I then spoke to them, and told them if they wanted anything of the people in the hall why not enter the room like men; that it was cowardly to shoot into a building that way. Two of them left, but eight or ten of them kept on discharging their revolvers. I then left and went down Canal and St. Charles Streets to General Baird’s head-quarters. I informed him that I had just left the hall and of the position of affairs there, and asked him, for God’s sake, to send the military. He said he would as soon as they arrived. I tried to impress upon him the necessity of immediate action. He told me he could do nothing until the military should come, and told me very sharply that he understood his business. I of course left his headquarters. I went home, changed my clothes, and in the course of half or three quarters of an hour went down Canal Street again and found the military just coming out and taking position in the streets. That was about all that I saw.