New Orleans Race Riot

(July 1866), after the American Civil War, incident of white violence directed against black urban dwellers in Louisiana; the event was influential in focusing public opinion in the North on the necessity of taking firmer measures to govern the South during Reconstruction. With the compliance of local civilian authorities and police, whites in late July killed 35 New Orleans black citizens and wounded more than 100. This race riot was similar to many others throughout the South and, together with the establishment of the highly restrictive black codes, helped win a commanding majority for the Radical Republicans and their vigorous Reconstruction policies in the November 1866 national elections.