The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction

by Charles Lane

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805083421
• ISBN13: 9780805083422
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 326 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A Story Lost in History Amnesia

"Victors' stories become enshrined in a nation's mythology and end up in history books; losers' stories are suppressed or forgotten" asserted Gary Nash. In writing "The Day Freedom Died", author Charles Lane brings to light one of the most brutal episodes occured during what was supposed to be "a glorious promise - that America could emerge from the Civil War as the world's first true interracial democracy", meaning Reconstruction. This event, lost in history amnesia, like many others, simply because it is not about the victors, but about the victims, is diligently described by the author, who presents his readers a very detailed, an extremely well-researched and novel-like book. From the very beginning, in turning its pages, just like it happens when we watch a good movie, the reader is captured, catapulted in another dimension, thanks to the introduction of the characters who will be met during the story and to the map that shows us exactly where we are: not anymore comfortably seated in our living room, on the couch reading by candle light, but in Grant Parish, Colfax, in Louisiana. Not anymore in 2009, but in 1873. But reader, this is not a story about the victors. Forget what they taught you in school. This is a story about the victims, about those who never had justice, never had a voice, never had freedom. This is the story about the day freedom died. I am a Master student of American History and I do come across many history books which are well-written but once I close them, they don't leave much to my heart and mind, simply because they are nothing but the revision of universally known episodes. When I finished reading this book, I "wondered how could I be ignorant of such a horrible clash", just like the author himself admits in his book. If I could give a Prize to "The Day Freedom Died", I definetely would! It is not only a masterpiece for the way Lane wrote it, but also because it gives voice to the voiceless, it gives justice to the people who have been forgotten by the Supreme Court, it brings to light an episode that was lost in the history amnesia.

Disturbing, Readable History

"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 maginficent and tragic tale

This riveting account of a terrible and unknown (until now) part of American history is every bit as riveting as fiction by John Grisham except that it is meticulously researched, and more important...true. Filmaker Errol Morris says that "there is no truth for you and truth for me, there is only THE truth," and Chuck Lane tells us the sad truth about the murders at Colfax Louisiana and as importantly the disregard for the most central value of a free society, a rule of law not a rule of man. Readers will learn about the rich and vivid history pf Louisiana, still a frontier for many people who came to find their fortune from the original American colonies. I cannot recommend a legal history of the United States that is more important for those of us who labor in the law and hope to seek justice through the power of the law. From their graves the murdered at Colfax are given voice by Charles Lane.

A riveting and meticulously researched account of the Colfax Massacre and its legal aftermath -- a r

I'm an avid history buff and a pretty demanding critic, and I found "The Day Freedom Died" absolutely riveting. I read it on vacation this week and couldn't put it down. Charles Lane has basically unearthed a little-known event -- the brutal slaughter of many dozens of freedmen in Colfax, Louisiana, on or around Easter Sunday 1873, by former Confederates (now Klansmen) desperately seeking to hold back Reconstruction and to prevent blacks and radical Republican whites from gaining local power -- and made it come to life. This achievement is a tribute both to Lane's meticulous and definitive primary-source research and his fast-moving journalistic storytelling. His rendering of the shocking events of Easter Sunday 1873 itself was incredibly dramatic (also so sad). Lane paints stunningly detailed, nuanced, and evocative portraits of the important players in the drama. And he helpfully and clearly puts the events in Louisiana in the context of Reconstruction generally. As a practicing lawyer, former prosecutor, and a fan of legal history, I particularly appreciated that Lane goes way beyond merely reconstructing the massacre itself to discuss its legal aftermath. The second half of the book recounts the federal government's attempt to prosecute the Colfax killers, and how that attempt ultimately, tragically faltered at the Supreme Court, which rendered a decision that effectively gutted the statute aimed at empowering federal prosecutors to prosecute Klan killings. Lane (the Washington Post's longtime Supreme Court correspondent) is uniquely positioned to render such analysis, and he does it beautifully. There are wonderful portraits here of the trial lawyers and the Supreme Court Justices who were key to the Colfax decision, and also a thoughtful analysis of the pertinent constitutional law issues and the Court's resolution of them. Although tackling a narrower slice of legal history, "The Day Freedom Died" reminded me throughout of Richard Kluger's phenomenal book, "Simple Justice." If you are an American history buff and particularly if you are drawn to either Reconstruction or legal history, you'll love this book. Full disclosure: I'm a college friend of Charles Lane's. But even if I were not, I would still "approve of this message"!

Thoroughly engrossing, impressively researched, and a story that demands to be told

Chuck Lane's "The Day Freedom Died" is the best kind of popular history: thoroughly researched, well-written, and makes for a quick read. As the events of the Colfax Massacre shift from historical happenstance to a law-and-order whodunit to a legal case to a Supreme Court decision, Lane shifts tenses and tones effectively without losing the reader. He effectively conveys the mood of the times and the way that the story of the Colfax Massacre tied into the overall tenor of Reconstruction, and the injustice of its ending. Perhaps the most disconcerting thing about the book is its language: Lane writes in modern language, but uses the words "Negro" and "colored" throughout the text in accordance with the usage of the times, as he writes in an author's note at the beginning. The choice is jarring for the first few pages, but defensible in the context of the story about the betrayal of Southern African-Americans by an alliance of Southern whites with Northern whites. The title of the book tells you that what you're about to read ought to make you mad. The day that freedom died and Reconstruction was betrayed is one that should be remembered, and one that should engender outrage. Lane tells the story well and lets the facts speak for themselves. Which they do, loudly, long after the victims were silenced. (Full disclosure: Chuck Lane is a colleague and a friend.)