Louisiana: Race Relations During Reconstruction

Reconstruction and Race Relations

Louisiana: A Case Study in Race Relations during Reconstruction

Louisiana: A Case Study in Race Relations during Reconstruction

Southern Louisiana during the Civil War was quickly occupied by Union troops and the slaves began to flee plantations to Union-controlled cities like New Orleans and Natchez (Steedman, 2009). The influx created problems for the Army since they were both wartime refugees and de facto free, despite parts of southern Louisiana being excluded from the Emancipation Proclamation. As the war drew to a close in 1864 President Lincoln used Union-occupied Louisiana as a showcase for Reconstruction. Elections were held, governor and representatives selected, but Congress refused to recognize Louisiana's representatives. In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was enacted making any form of slavery illegal in the United States (Goluboff, 2001).

When elections were held again in 1865, control of Louisiana shifted to Southern Democrats...
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