Opelousas massacre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Opelousas massacre |
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| Part of Reconstruction | |||
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| Date | September 28, 1868 | ||
| Location | |||
| Goals | Elimination of Black Republicans in St. Landry Parish | ||
| Methods | Massacre, lynching, beating | ||
| Resulted in | Elimination of the Republican Party and all Republican votes in the 1868 presidential election from St. Landry Parish | ||
| Parties to the civil conflict | |||
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| Casualties | |||
| Death(s) | Unknown, likely 200+ | ||
The Opelousas massacre was a very violent event that started on September 28, 1868. It happened during the Reconstruction era in the United States. This was a time after the American Civil War when the country was rebuilding.
In 1868, Louisiana approved a new constitution. Also, the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was added to the U.S. Constitution. These changes gave Black men the right to vote. This caused a lot of tension between white Democrats and Black Republicans in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana.
On September 28, 1868, a white schoolteacher named Emerson Bentley was attacked. He was also a Republican newspaper editor. Three white men who believed in white supremacy beat him. This happened while he was teaching Black children in Opelousas.
People heard rumors that Bentley had died, even though he hadn't. This made both Black Republicans and white Democrats angry. A group called the Knights of the White Camelia was involved. After Bentley secretly left town, the violence began. Many Black citizens were chased, captured, shot, and killed. This went on for several weeks. It's believed that between 150 and 300 Black people died. Some white people also died. After this event, the Republican Party in St. Landry Parish almost disappeared for many years.
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What Led to the Violence?
In April 1868, Louisiana approved a new state constitution. This constitution was important because it gave Black men the right to vote. It also created public schools for all races. And it made sure Black people could use public places. Because of these changes, many Republican candidates won elections that spring.
In July, the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was approved. This amendment gave equal rights to all citizens. These changes made some white people very angry. They believed in white supremacy. They often harassed and shot Black people across the state.
The Knights of the White Camelia
In St. Landry Parish, a group called the Knights of the White Camelia was very strong. They believed white people were superior. It's thought they had about 3,000 members there. This was a large part of the population.
On September 13, 1868, Black Republicans and white Democrats met in Washington, Louisiana. The local Knights of the White Camelia, called the Seymour Knights, were there. Some Black people from nearby Opelousas wanted to join the Democratic Party. The Seymour Knights wanted to stop this.
During the meeting, a gun accidentally went off. This almost caused a fight. But the meeting ended peacefully with two agreements. First, no one could bring guns to future meetings. Second, Emerson Bentley, a newspaper editor, had to stop writing angry articles about Democrats.
Who Was Emerson Bentley?
Emerson Bentley was an 18-year-old white man from Ohio. He came to Louisiana to teach Black students. He worked for the Freedmen's Bureau, which helped formerly enslaved people. Bentley also edited a Republican newspaper called St. Landry Progress. He was also the secretary for the local Republican Party.
In early September 1868, Bentley found a scary note on his classroom door. It said "E.B. Beware! K.K.K." It also had drawings of a coffin, a skull and bones, and a bloody knife. This was a threat from the Ku Klux Klan or similar groups.
Bentley did not follow the agreement from the September 13 meeting. He still wrote articles criticizing Democrats. He praised the Republican Party and told Black citizens to stay with it. He said the Republican Party was less violent.
What Happened During the Massacre?
On September 28, 1868, Bentley was teaching his class. Three members of the Seymour Knights interrupted him. Their names were John Williams, James R. Dickson, and Sebastian May. They beat and whipped Bentley in front of his students. They forced him to sign a paper saying he was wrong about his articles.
When the beating started, the children ran out of the classroom. They shouted, "They are killing Mr. Bentley!" This is how the rumors started that Bentley had died.
Bentley managed to escape. He hid in safe houses for several weeks. Eventually, he made it to New Orleans. Meanwhile, Black Republicans started getting ready to fight back. They wanted revenge for Bentley's "death." White supremacists, including the Knights, gathered thousands of their members.
The white supremacists had more people and more weapons. They started hunting and killing Black Republicans and white Republican leaders. The next day, 27 of the first Black people they captured were killed. White mobs chased families and shot them in their homes and in public. They destroyed Bentley's school and his newspaper office. They also killed C. E. Durand, who worked with Bentley on the newspaper. Black people who tried to escape were driven into the swamps and shot.
The Aftermath
It's hard to know exactly how many people died. Newspapers that supported Democrats said fewer than 100 people died. But Republicans estimated between 200 and 300 deaths. Other estimates say between 150 and 300 Black people died. And 30 to 50 white people also died. This event is known as one of the most violent during the Reconstruction era.
After the massacre, the Republican Party in St. Landry Parish was almost completely gone. No one voted for Republican candidates in the 1868 presidential election there. Election officials believed that anyone who voted for a Republican would have been killed very quickly. The Republican Party did not exist in the parish for four years. There was no Republican newspaper there until 1876.
In 2021, a group called the St. Landry Parish NAACP held a special event. They remembered the anniversary of when the massacre began.
