The Politics of Terror : Enforcing Reconstruction in Louisiana’s Red River Valley

Abstract

Was the failure to establish civil and political equality for the former slaves during Reconstruction the more-or-less inevitable consequence of the essentially conservative nature of the federal Reconstruction project? The Politics of Terror instead suggests that even the limited program enacted by lawmakers in Washington DC might have achieved far more, had the federal government enforced its provisions vigorously when faced with extra-legal, often violent resistance by Southern whites. Reconstruction's ultimate failure represented not so much a ‘Compromise of Principle,' as an all-out capitulation in the face of terrorism. In the decade after Appomattox, Southern whites developed increasingly effective strategies to thwart the promise of civil and political equality embodied in Congressional Reconstruction. These included a transition from widespread violence to more targeted threats and intimidation, as well as a media campaign aimed at deflecting a vigorous Northern response by undermining the perceived legitimacy of Southern Republicans. At the same time, local military commanders achieved successes, albeit limited and temporary, in containing violence and enforcing the civil and political rights of the black population. Such episodes provide a crucial counterpoint to the narrative of violent resistance, reminding us of what Reconstruction might have achieved had organized terror not triumphed over the rule of law. Taking Louisiana's Red River Valley as a case study, The Politics of Terror explores the dynamics and experience of incessant political violence that characterized local Reconstruction politics in much of the cotton South. Emphasizing the fundamentally contested and anarchic nature of these local politics, it shows how control over the day-to-day levers of power was often more important than the formal outcome of institutionalized political processes. At the same time, these localized struggles over political, economic, and racial control both reflected and influenced the developments of Reconstruction on a national scale. This thesis also deconstructs the highly moralized narratives imposed on Reconstruction by both Dunningite and Revisionist historians. Southern whites were hardly the innocent and set-upon victims of a few conniving whites who manipulated hordes of ignorant former slaves; but neither were the white and black Republican leaders universally high-minded and idealistic prophets of the twentieth century civil rights movement. The story of Reconstruction, in fact, boasts few heroes and offers little comfort to those who conceive of American history as a uniform march towards progress.