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The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction | 
 enlarge | Author: Charles Lane
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Category: Book
List Price: $27.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 47228
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0805083421
Dewey Decimal Number: 976.367
EAN: 9780805083422
ASIN: 0805083421
Publication Date: March 4, 2008
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Product Description
The untold story of the slaying of a Southern town’s ex-slaves and a white lawyer’s historic battle to bring the perpretators to justice Following the Civil War, Colfax, Louisiana, was a town, like many, where African Americans and whites mingled uneasily. But on April 13, 1873, a small army of white ex–Confederate soldiers, enraged after attempts by freedmen to assert their new rights, killed more than sixty African Americans who had occupied a courthouse. With skill and tenacity, The Washington Post’s Charles Lane transforms this nearly forgotten incident into a riveting historical saga.
Seeking justice for the slain, one brave U.S. attorney, James Beckwith, risked his life and career to investigate and punish the perpetrators—but they all went free. What followed was a series of courtroom dramas that culminated at the Supreme Court, where the justices’ verdict compromised the victories of the Civil War and left Southern blacks at the mercy of violent whites for generations. The Day Freedom Died is an electrifying piece of historical detective work that captures a gallery of characters from presidents to townspeople, and re-creates the bloody days of Reconstruction, when the often brutal struggle for equality moved from the battlefield into communities across the nation.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
Should be required reading August 23, 2008
I read "The Day Freedom Died" during a family "Backroads" vacation in Wyoming visiting our national parks. Members of our group would often have to arouse me from my deep inhalation of Lane's words to see sights along the way, "Yeah, nice," I'd mutter, as The Grand Tetons, Yellowstone Lake, and Old Faithful passed in the distance.I can't recall my ever reading a book so quickly or intensely.
Mr. Lane has brought to life a very important piece of US history that has, for reasons unbeknownst to me, been obviated from common knowledge. This unpunished massacre of 60+ former slaves in "Reconstruction" period Louisiana, and the subsequent inaction by our courts, laid the groundwork for the savagery and mistreatment of African-Americans for the next 100 years. E.g, if one looks up Joseph Bradley in Wikipedia, Colfax isn't mentioned while his ruling in the Hayes electoral college decision is highlighted. I'm shocked and saddened that the Colfax massacre has been barely taught to schoolchildren throughout the past 100+ years. Thankfully, because of Lane and maybe others, this seems to be changing. I read that an interracial ceremony this year marked the 135th anniversary of the event.
However, it is pitiful that Louisiana, Supreme Court justices,
journalists, and academics have not forcefully condemned this horrific
blemish in our history nor tried to remedy much of the historical
misinterpretation. That the sign outside Colfax courthouse still
describes the event as marking "the end of carpetbag misrule" is a shame. That Supreme Court justice Bradley and his fellow justices are not viewed with disdain for laying the foundation for another the subsequent persecution of African-Americans is a shame too. That white supremacist CC Nash and his band of hoodlums have been lauded as heroes and not demons is sick. Hopefully, Judge Beckwith, the one lone voice of judicial reason, will one day accurately be positioned in history as a man of superior ethics and courage. I couldn't help wondering "what if" many times throughout the book.
Charles Lane has composed a brilliantly researched, analyzed, and written work, one that should be required reading for high school history classes. I'd love to see this as a movie.
 Good book, tragic story August 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Charles Lane did a very good job on a disturbing part of our history. The Colfax Massacre was one of the worst in a long line of race-related murders in the post-Civil War South. "Betrayal of Reconstruction" is an appropriate part of this title.
The Colfax Massacre was a despicable event in 1873. At least 60 black men were killed while they defended the Grant Parish court house with minimal weaponry. Many were slaughtered after surrendering. It was brutal murder, yet when it was all said and done, the killers -- every single one to survive the battle -- were free.
There are many things to like about this book. Lane did a solid job of providing the necessary background on all the key participants, as well as what caused the racial climate in that part of Louisiana. The narrative was pretty smooth and easy to read. He brought these little-known characters to life.
Lane's research was also outstanding, and his knowledge of the law and the Supreme Court is undeniable. One problem I had with the book was that I had some difficulty understanding some of the legal issues and specifics. But the main point of the story was clear -- vicious murderers were not punished because of a combination of technicalities and questionable interpretation of the law. In other words, it's hard to convict racists when judges and jurors are also racist.
This book is a quick read and great for any history buff.
Disturbing, Readable History August 15, 2008
"The Day Freedom Died" is both one of the most gripping books I've read, and one of the hardest to read. That's because it's the story of a very disturbing event in history - the Colfax Massacre, the brutal murder of dozens of blacks in rural Louisiana - and the attempts to prosecute the killers.
Charles Lane clearly did tremendous research for this book, and it pays off - the book successfully recounts both the events and their place in the events of the time. Lane can write as well, so the scholarship is woven into the story of what happened and the consequences of both the massacre and the court decisions overturning the few convictions secured. The events can make it hard to read at points; but that perhaps makes it all the more important.
Lane isn't quite as good as discussing the legal issues that were decided in Cruickshank - the consequences of the crippling of federal efforts to prosecute murder and intimidation by white thugs is clear, but he never covers in depth the technical validity of the decision. But this is a minor issue.
Reconstruction is often thought of a time of "carpetbag misrule", but "The Day Freedom Dies" shines a rather disturbing light on the time. A stunning read; and one that I'd recommend to anyone.
A Pulitzer or National Book Award for American History Please July 21, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is heartbreaking; and a literary and historical tour de force. A brilliant rendition of a span in the life of only one venue - Grant Parish - just after the Civil War that weaves together in a kind of real time narrative the names, the faces, the backgrounds, the motivations, the hertiage and the beliefs of the participants on this small but emblematic stage of American history.
Around the nucleus of central action at Grant Parish and its environs, Lane captures the participation of the govenor and his allies and the president and other federal officials with an interest in the outcome by staying exactly on point. The facts and the facts alone make this story so compelling.
Informing the narrative is the factual vulnerability of black folk living among their prior masters; the evil hearts and deeds of the former slave drivers; the brave freedmen who dared vote, the sympathetic and sometimes powerful whites, the coalescing and ossifing of people into rigid political parties, election stealing, the struggle for justice almost singlehandedly seen through to the end by Attorney Beckwith; how the fight for justice for the victims of Colfax and hence the future rights of freedman to live in liberty was cast within the narrow confines of limited federal police power, with the resolution left to those very states that would and did resubjugate them. Witness the parsing of statues so as to produce a disconnect between statutory intent and real world application, and most painfully, most painfully, the tremendous vulnerability of black folk for almost 100 years after the Civil War to the arbitrary and capricious private violence of white supremists.
And then there is the pitifully wasted opportunity to apply federal military might to end the bloodshed and the terrorism, even when they are just across the river. But then, it was an awesome task to realign a whole region with the notion of basic human rights and liberty for black folks and it took another century and indeed, federal police power, before they got message and reconciled themselves to equality.
Here we find the roots of what eventually became the doctrine of preemption, here we understand the disconnect and the power of black robed judges formulating their rulings to further privately held political values and not the greater good- that will result in innocents being slaughtered, elections rigged, blacks intimidated and terrorized all without even a glance back at Justice beheaded at Colfax along with the victms, where the victors are left free to prosper and to write their history of lies.
Here we will understand the gap in understanding between whites and blacks in this country and why black people find it so easy to believe the government would betray them. Here we understand the merits of a military "surge" and how it could stop terrorism, here we understand that if we liken the South 138 years ago to Iraq today, how many years and lives and how much military power it will take to reconcile the country among the sunnis and shias, here we understand the messy confluence of ideals of liberty with political opportunism. Idealism unprotected by the righteous application of force to protect the innocent left so many dead bodies around the trench at Colfax, and so many evil doers free to repeat their crimes.
Here we understand that we must pledge our lives to those treasured and hard fought values for which so many paid the blood price during the Revolution, during the Civil War and the Time Till Now: liberty and the rule of law.
overall good,but... April 30, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
The topic was well covered in an interesting and informative manner, I learned a great deal about a period in American history you won't learn in school. The book was well written, interesting and thought provoking. However it was slanted. When the republicans maneuvered to remove democrats from office, they were trying to be just, regardless of the legality of their moves (ie trying to impeach the governor, overturning election results, etc.) whereas the democrats involved in the same actions were crucified. Granted by modern standards, the republicans were more politically correct, but the legality of many of the moves was just as suspect and not truly treated as such. History always has a side, and is written to communicate that side, this is fine, but it must be recognized.
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