1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,279 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. We are coming up on 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: the one hundred and sixtieth anniversary of the Memphis Massacre 5 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: of eighteen sixty six, and it is a coincidence that 6 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: this episode is coming out right alongside that anniversary. I 7 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:32,880 Speaker 1: had originally planned a somewhat different episode, and the focus 8 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:34,879 Speaker 1: shifted along the way, and we will talk about that 9 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,239 Speaker 1: in our Friday Behind the Scenes. This was a truly 10 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 1: horrific wave of destruction and violence, including sexual violence and murders, 11 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:49,200 Speaker 1: against the black community of Memphis, just a year after 12 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: the end of the US Civil War. The perpetrators of 13 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: this included police officers and firefighters, and the victims included 14 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: veterans who had fought for the United States during the war. 15 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: We've talked about a number of other similar waves of 16 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: mass anti black violence on the show, including the Wilmington 17 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: Coup of eighteen ninety eight, the Tulsa Massacre of nineteen 18 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:16,320 Speaker 1: twenty one, and multiple incidents that took place in and 19 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: around the Red Summer of nineteen nineteen just as examples. 20 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: So the Memphis massacre was part of this pattern of violence, 21 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: and these incidents all had some similar traits, but what 22 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: happened in Memphis also had a couple of aspects that 23 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 1: really set it apart. It played a role in the 24 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,959 Speaker 1: passage and ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, 25 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: and the investigations that followed. The massacre heard the first 26 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: known testimony of a transgender person before a Congressional committee, 27 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: so for background. In eighteen eighteen, the United States and 28 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: the Chickasaw Nations signed the Treaty of Tuscaloosa, also known 29 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: as the Treaty of Old Town. The negotiators on the 30 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: US side were future President Andrew Jackson and former Kentucky 31 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: Governor Isaac Shelby, and the Chickasaw Nation was represented by 32 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: brothers Levi and George Colbert. Under this treaty, the US 33 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: purchased land between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers in what 34 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: is now Kentucky and Tennessee, with the Chickasaw Nation receiving 35 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: three hundred thousand dollars at the rate of twenty thousand 36 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 1: dollars annually for fifteen years. This became known as the 37 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: Jackson Purchase. This, of course, is just one tiny piece 38 00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 1: of the United States relationship with the Chickasaw Nation. Among 39 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,119 Speaker 1: other things, the Treaty of Tuscaloosa was one of several 40 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: that were signed in eighteen eighteen. Jackson would face allegations 41 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: of corruption over his land speculations during these negotiations, and 42 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: the Chickasaw Nation would later be one of the indigenous 43 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: nations that was forced to move west under the Indian 44 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: Removal Act of eighteen thirty. That act, of course, was 45 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: passed early in Jackson's presidency and was part of his 46 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: overall policy toward indigenous people. The part of this history 47 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:07,519 Speaker 1: that is most relevant to today's episode, though, is the 48 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: Jackson Purchase, since a year later, the city of Memphis 49 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: was established on a part of the acquired land. Tennessee 50 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: had been admitted to the Union as a slave state 51 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety six, and on June eighth, eighteen sixty one, 52 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: a few months after the start of the Civil War, 53 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: Tennessee residents voted to secede from the Union. Tennessee was 54 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,799 Speaker 1: the last state to secede, and this vote was largely 55 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: split along regional lines. East Tennessee voted decisively to remain 56 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: in the Union, and a substantial majority of West Tennessee, 57 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: where Memphis is, voted to secede. East Tennessee is in 58 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: the Appalachian mountains and foothills, and slavery was not widely 59 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: practiced there, which was not the case in the western 60 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: part of the state. The United States captured Memphis from 61 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: the Confederacy on June six, eighteen sixty one. Two. The 62 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: Confederacy launched a series of raids and incursions into Memphis 63 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: after this, including the Second Battle of Memphis in eighteen 64 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: sixty four, but the city remained in Union hands for 65 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: the rest of the war, and the population of Memphis 66 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 1: changed dramatically during that time. In eighteen sixty Memphis had 67 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: about twenty two thousand residents. The next census was not 68 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: until eighteen seventy, so there's not an exact population number 69 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: for eighteen sixty six, when the massacre happened, but it's 70 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: estimated to have been around thirty five thousand or forty 71 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: thousand people. Many of those new residents were black, including 72 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: people who had fled from more rural areas after hearing 73 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: that Memphis was under Union control. President Lincoln issued the 74 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: Emancipation Proclamation on January first, eighteen sixty three, and six 75 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: months later, the third US Colored Heavy Artillery was established 76 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 1: and started recruiting black soldiers who were garrisoned at Fort 77 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: Pickering in Memphis. That same year, the US decided to 78 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: consolidate some of its contraband camps in the Mississippi River Valley, 79 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:09,839 Speaker 1: and Memphis was chosen as one of the locations to 80 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 1: move people to. We have done an episode about these camps. 81 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: They were established to house people who liberated themselves from 82 00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:21,840 Speaker 1: enslavement and made it to Union territory or were confiscated 83 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: when Confederate sites were captured. Memphis also became home to 84 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: a Freedman's Bureau office in eighteen sixty five, which freed 85 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: people saw as a resource for protection and help and 86 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: became another reason to go to the city. There were 87 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: about four thousand enslaved and free black people in Memphis 88 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,720 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty and at that point, the city's population 89 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: was about eighty percent white. As a result of everything 90 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:49,840 Speaker 1: we just talked about. When the war ended in eighteen 91 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: sixty five, the city's free black population had quadrupled to 92 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: about sixteen thousand people. And made up about forty percent 93 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: of the city's population. Some estimates are even higher, estimating 94 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: a black majority in Memphis at some points in the 95 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: mid eighteen sixties, Memphis's Irish population had also grown dramatically. 96 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: The Great Famine had started in eighteen forty five, and 97 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: people fleeing Ireland typically arrived at northeastern ports, but many 98 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: started making their way to Kentucky and Tennessee in the 99 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: eighteen fifties to find work building railroads. Prior to eighteen 100 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 1: fifty three, most of the manual laborers building railroads were 101 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: enslaved Africans who the railroad companies rented from there enslavers, 102 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:39,359 Speaker 1: But that year the Supreme Court of Alabama ruled that 103 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: people who rented enslaved laborers would be liable if they 104 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: were harmed doing work that they didn't typically do, like 105 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: building a railroad instead of working in a field. In 106 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: other words, the railroads would have to compensate in slavers 107 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,599 Speaker 1: for injuries or deaths among the people who were considered 108 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: their property. It became more economical to higher Irish laborers, 109 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: who didn't have that financial risk if they were hurt 110 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 1: or killed doing the work. In eighteen fifty less than 111 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: ten percent of the population of Memphis was Irish. That 112 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: number more than doubled by eighteen sixty If you've listened 113 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: to some of our other episodes about this kind of 114 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: mob violence, including previous Hosts episode on the New York 115 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: Draft riots of eighteen sixty three, this probably sounds familiar. 116 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: There were black and Irish entrepreneurs in Memphis, but aside 117 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: from the soldiers, most black and Irish men were competing 118 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: for the same jobs doing manual labor. Irish laborers saw 119 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: the influx of black people into Memphis as a threat 120 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: to their livelihoods, and this was particularly true immediately after 121 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: the Civil War, when slavery had been abolished and the 122 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: city was in an economic recession, mostly staying afloat through 123 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: investments and loans from the North. Broadly speaking, the Irish 124 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: community also had a strong sense of solidarity, in part 125 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,160 Speaker 1: because they faced so much bigotry and derision from other 126 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: white people. Sometimes you'll see this described as Irish immigrants 127 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: not being considered white, but that's not exactly true. Irish 128 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: immigrants to the United States could and did become US citizens. 129 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: They could vote, and own property and hold public office, 130 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: things that people who were not considered white would not 131 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: be allowed to do They were barred from those activities. 132 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: It was more like Irish immigrants were thought of as 133 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: the wrong kind of white people. For example, a Freedman's 134 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: Bureau report on the massacre refers to the instigators who 135 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:44,440 Speaker 1: were predominantly Irish as quote low whites at two different points. 136 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: The Congressional report on the massacre uses both Irish and white. 137 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty six, Irish people also had a lot 138 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: of political power and influence in Memphis. The year before, 139 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: Tennessee had passed a distance franchisement law that stripped former 140 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 1: Confederates and Confederate sympathizers of the right to vote for 141 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: a minimum of fifteen years. A lot of the people 142 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: who had previously held office in Memphis were wealthy landowners 143 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 1: and slaveholders, and they were affected by this law. Even 144 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,319 Speaker 1: if they hadn't explicitly sided with the Confederacy or if 145 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: they had not been in favor of Tennessee's secession, A 146 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: lot of them refused to do things like take a 147 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:33,439 Speaker 1: loyalty oath that was required that endorsed the Emancipation Proclamation. Meanwhile, 148 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: the vast majority of the Irish residents of Tennessee were 149 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: newly arrived in the United States and didn't feel a 150 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:42,559 Speaker 1: real connection to the war or a reason to fight. 151 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 1: They only did because they had been conscripted. Most were 152 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: also poor and had never enslaved anyone. Some who had 153 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: served in the Confederate military could make the case that 154 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: they had been forced into service and had otherwise remained 155 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: loyal to the United States. Others deserted the Confederacy and 156 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: fought for the United States after the Union took control 157 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: of the area where they were so. In the eighteen 158 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:14,240 Speaker 1: sixty five municipal election in Memphis, Irish Men were disproportionately 159 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:19,079 Speaker 1: still able to vote, while non Irish white men disproportionately 160 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:23,040 Speaker 1: were not. John Park, who was either Irish or the 161 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 1: child of Irish immigrants, I found sources calling him each 162 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: of those things. He was elected mayor. Irish Men were 163 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:33,560 Speaker 1: elected to nine of the sixteen seats on the Board 164 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:37,560 Speaker 1: of Aldermen. Irish people also held two thirds of all 165 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: the elected and appointed offices in the Memphis government. The 166 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:45,439 Speaker 1: large majority of the police and firefighters in Memphis were 167 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: also Irish. All of this is part of the context 168 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: for this massacre which we will talk about after we 169 00:10:51,880 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 1: pause for a sponsor break. During and after the Civil War, 170 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: the black population of Memphis fought to be treated with 171 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 1: dignity and respect. This was particularly true of black soldiers 172 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: and veterans, who felt that they had earned that dignity 173 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: and respect through their service to the United States, and 174 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:24,320 Speaker 1: whose presence in uniform was just really galling to people 175 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: who thought that they should not have it. For months 176 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:30,679 Speaker 1: leading up to the massacre, black people in Memphis had 177 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: faced increasing antagonism and harassment from the city's white population, 178 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: including and especially its predominantly Irish police force and firefighting forces. 179 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:46,959 Speaker 1: This really spiraled, with black soldiers and veterans and civilians 180 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:52,199 Speaker 1: pushing back against racism, wrongful arrest, police brutality, and other mistreatment, 181 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: only for the white population to become even more hostile. 182 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: This whole cycle also seemed to strengthen this of solidarity 183 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: among Irish immigrants, who had an increasingly US versus them mentality, 184 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:10,960 Speaker 1: with US specifically meaning Irish people, not white people. More broadly. 185 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 1: In April of eighteen sixty six, the Civil War was over, 186 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: and black soldiers stationed at Fort Pickering were waiting to 187 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 1: be paid and mustered out. Of the Army. On April thirtieth, 188 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: a group of black soldiers were walking down Cosey Street 189 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:30,599 Speaker 1: when four Irish police officers forced them off the sidewalk. 190 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,760 Speaker 1: The details of this aren't clear, like I don't know 191 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: if there was some instigation of forcing them off the 192 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: sidewalk besides just to be antagonistic. But one witness said 193 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: that some words passed between the men, but not what 194 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: was said other than that strong language was used on 195 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 1: both sides. One of the soldiers fell and then one 196 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:55,199 Speaker 1: of the police officers tripped over him. Then the police 197 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: officers attacked the soldiers, including one who started beating the 198 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: men with his pistol. This fight went on for several minutes, 199 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:05,840 Speaker 1: and in the words of the Freedman's Bureau report on 200 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:10,680 Speaker 1: the massacre quote, both parties then separated, deferring the settlement 201 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:15,040 Speaker 1: by mutual consent to some future time. Most of the 202 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,480 Speaker 1: black soldiers were mustered out of the army on April thirtieth, 203 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 1: but they didn't receive their back pay until May first. 204 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:25,719 Speaker 1: That day, after being paid, many of them went out 205 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:29,560 Speaker 1: to celebrate. A Large group of people, including women and children, 206 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:33,079 Speaker 1: congregated on South Street, which was seen as a border 207 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:37,160 Speaker 1: between white and black neighborhoods of Memphis. This crowd was 208 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 1: boisterous and loud, with some people singing and dancing. Some 209 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:44,600 Speaker 1: of them were intoxicated, none of which is surprising since 210 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,440 Speaker 1: they had just been mustered out of the army after 211 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 1: serving in a war and had just gotten the back 212 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 1: pay that they had been waiting for. Yes, this was 213 00:13:53,360 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: definitely rowdy. Understandably, that is exactly the time you should celebrate. Correct. 214 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: Police arrived and they arrested two black men from the 215 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:07,880 Speaker 1: crowd and tried to escort them from the scene. Several 216 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:11,520 Speaker 1: other black men tried to intervene. They surrounded the police 217 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 1: and the men they'd taken into custody, and they fired 218 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: their pistols into the air. The police officers thought they 219 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: were being fired upon, and they started firing into the 220 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 1: crowd again. In the words of the freedman Spiau report quote, 221 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:31,360 Speaker 1: during this afray, one police officer was wounded in the finger. Another, Stevens, 222 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: was shot by the accidental discharge of the pistol in 223 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 1: his own hand, and afterward died. Word of what was 224 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: happening started to spread through Memphis, including rumors that black 225 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: residents were going to try to take over the city. 226 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 1: John C. Creighton, the city recorder, went out into the 227 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:53,360 Speaker 1: streets and made a speech on horseback, encouraging the white 228 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: residents around them to arm themselves and to try to 229 00:14:56,680 --> 00:15:02,680 Speaker 1: kill Memphis's black population or them from the city. Shelby 230 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 1: County Sheriff TM Winters went to Major General George Stoneman, 231 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,640 Speaker 1: who was in command of the troops in Memphis, to 232 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 1: ask for military help in restoring order. By that point, 233 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:16,720 Speaker 1: though most of the troops who had been in Memphis 234 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: had been mustered out or transferred elsewhere. Stoneman argued that 235 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: he only had enough men on hand to try to 236 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: protect government property from the mob. He also pointed out 237 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: that the people of Memphis had been very ready to 238 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: get rid of the federal troops who had been stationed 239 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 1: there to enforce the law. His attitude was sort of like, well, 240 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: you all claimed you were competent and able to take 241 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: care of yourselves, so we sent most of the troops 242 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 1: away like you asked, and now look where we are. Meanwhile, 243 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 1: Winters raised a posse that seems to add to the 244 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: violence rather than controlling it. The violence in Memphis stretched 245 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 1: from May first through the third, eighteen sixty sive again. 246 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:04,400 Speaker 1: In the words of the Freedmen's Bureau report quote, the 247 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,400 Speaker 1: city seemed to be under the control of a lawless mob. 248 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: During this and the two succeeding days, all crimes imaginable 249 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:16,880 Speaker 1: were committed, from simple larceny to rape and murder. Several 250 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: women and children were shot in bed. One woman, Rachel Johnson, 251 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 1: was shot and then thrown into the flames of a 252 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:28,800 Speaker 1: burning house and consumed. Another was forced twice through the 253 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: flames and finally escaped. In some instances, houses were fired 254 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: and armed men guarded them to prevent the escape of 255 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:41,400 Speaker 1: those inside. A number of men, whose loyalty is undoubted. 256 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 1: Long residents of Memphis who depreciated the riot during its 257 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: progress were denominated Yankees and abolitionists, and were informed in 258 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:54,560 Speaker 1: language more emphatic than gentlemanly that their presence here was unnecessary. 259 00:16:55,880 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: Mayor John Park was described as totally losing control of subordinates. 260 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: Those subordinates, including the police officers and firefighters who terrorized, raped, robbed, 261 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:11,440 Speaker 1: and killed black residents of the city. Park was described 262 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 1: as intoxicated during part or most of the time, and 263 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: unable to carry out his duties as the mayor. While 264 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:23,919 Speaker 1: other people characterized him as intentionally sowing discord and disorder 265 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: among the other city officials to try to get them 266 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: to grant him emergency powers. He did make his own 267 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 1: request for Stoneman to send troops, and Stoneman told him 268 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,320 Speaker 1: that one hundred and fifty troops would be made available, 269 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:42,080 Speaker 1: but only in the case of quote extreme necessity. He 270 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 1: left it up to Park to determine whether the need 271 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 1: was extreme. Meanwhile, black residents of Memphis flooded the Freedman's 272 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 1: Bureau office to ask Brevet Brigadier General Ben P. Runkle, 273 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,199 Speaker 1: chief superintendent for the Bureau in Memphis, for help. He 274 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: described himself as human in his inability to help them. 275 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:05,120 Speaker 1: He had no troops to deploy, and when he went 276 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:07,639 Speaker 1: out to appeal to the mob, no one would listen 277 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: to him. Veterans who had turned in their service weapons 278 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:14,119 Speaker 1: when they were mustered out went to General Stoneman to 279 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: ask to have them returned, and they were denied. Eventually, 280 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: on May third, Stoneman declared martial law, banned the posse 281 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:25,800 Speaker 1: that the sheriff had rallied, and deployed reinforcements from the 282 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 1: fourth US Cavalry to restore order. By that point, forty 283 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 1: six black Americans, many of them US Army veterans, had 284 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: been murdered at the hands of white perpetrators. Many of 285 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:42,360 Speaker 1: those perpetrators were Irish police officers and firefighters. About seventy 286 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:45,640 Speaker 1: five other black people had been injured. At least five 287 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 1: black women had been raped. Police and civilians had fired 288 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:52,280 Speaker 1: at patients who were sitting in front of the Freedman's 289 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:56,399 Speaker 1: Bureau hospital and then fired into the hospital itself. The 290 00:18:56,440 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 1: mob had burned down between fifty and ninety homes all Way, 291 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,679 Speaker 1: along with every black church and school in Memphis, and 292 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:08,119 Speaker 1: they had robbed and burned down black owned businesses. Two 293 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,639 Speaker 1: white men were killed over those three days, the police 294 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:14,520 Speaker 1: officer named Stevens who was killed when his own pistol 295 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: accidentally discharged, and a firefighter named Dunn, who was shot 296 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:23,720 Speaker 1: and killed by another white man by mistake. A number 297 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:27,040 Speaker 1: of civic and business leaders, many of whom were Irish, 298 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: intentionally spread racism and panic during all this. That included 299 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: Attorney General William Wallace, who made public speeches to stoke 300 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: anger and racism, and business leader John Pendergrass, who allowed 301 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 1: rioters to use his home as a planning and rallying point. 302 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: News reporting played role as well, with conservative newspapers including 303 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 1: The Daily Argus and The Memphis Avalanche publishing just incendiary articles. 304 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:58,919 Speaker 1: These newspapers were already highly critical of the Republican governments 305 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: of both the United sis States in Tennessee, and they 306 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,919 Speaker 1: were especially critical of the Radical Republican faction, which was 307 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: known for their opposition to slavery and their efforts to 308 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:14,119 Speaker 1: secure freedom and equal rights for black people. These newspapers 309 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:19,240 Speaker 1: framed Radical Republicans as violent and dangerous and described black 310 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: people using racist stereotypes. The Avalanche started printing the names 311 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 1: of radical Republicans and rumors that black men who had 312 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:31,560 Speaker 1: been mustered out of service were going to attack the town. 313 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:37,120 Speaker 1: Multiple investigations were launched within days of the massacre. We're 314 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 1: going to talk more about that after we pause for 315 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 1: a sponsor break. The Memphis massacre took place during congressional 316 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 1: debates over a constitutional amendment that had been proposed by 317 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 1: the Joint Committee on Reconstruction. Earlier drafts of this amendment 318 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: had failed, but the one that the committee reported to 319 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:09,160 Speaker 1: Congress on April thirtieth, eighteen sixty six was largely the 320 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:14,400 Speaker 1: same as today's fourteenth Amendment. Debates over the newly drafted 321 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:18,879 Speaker 1: amendment started a few days after the massacre ended. On 322 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:22,639 Speaker 1: May tenth, during debates in the House, Representative Thaddeus Stevens 323 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: of Pennsylvania referenced the massacre in a speech about the 324 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:31,560 Speaker 1: amendment's third provision, which barred anyone who had quote engaged 325 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:35,400 Speaker 1: in an insurrection or rebellion against the United States from 326 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 1: holding civil or military office. Speaking to representatives who thought 327 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:43,919 Speaker 1: this language was too strong, Stephens said, quote, let not 328 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:47,480 Speaker 1: those friends of secession sing to me their siren song 329 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:51,520 Speaker 1: of peace and goodwill until they can stop my ears 330 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 1: to the screams and groans of the dying victims at Memphis. 331 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:58,439 Speaker 1: I hold in my hand an elaborate account from a 332 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:02,000 Speaker 1: man whom I know to be of the highest respectability 333 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 1: in the country, every word of which I believe. This 334 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: account of that foul transaction only reached me last night. 335 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: It is more horrible in its atrocity, although not to 336 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 1: the same extent than the massacre in Jamaica. Tell me 337 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,639 Speaker 1: Tennessee or any other state is loyal of whom such 338 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:25,439 Speaker 1: things are proved. On May fourteenth, as the debates continued, 339 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: Stevens motioned for the House to send a committee to 340 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 1: Memphis to investigate what had happened. The resulting House Select 341 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:36,120 Speaker 1: Committee was made up of two Republicans, Eli Hugh Washburn 342 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: of Illinois and John Brumall of Pennsylvania, and one Democrat, 343 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:45,480 Speaker 1: George Shanklin of Kentucky. They arrived in Memphis on May 344 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 1: twenty second. They interviewed one hundred and seventy victims and witnesses, 345 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 1: as well as officials who had been ostensibly in charge 346 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:57,639 Speaker 1: in Memphis during the massacre, including Major General Stoneman and 347 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 1: Mayor John Park. Resulting report, which is not the Freedman's 348 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: Bureau report that we have read from earlier. That was 349 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: a much shorter report. The resulting Congressional Report was about 350 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:12,880 Speaker 1: four hundred pages long and was printed through the Government 351 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 1: Printing Office. It detailed the initial altercation on April thirtieth, 352 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:21,040 Speaker 1: the incidents that happened afterward, and the decisions made by 353 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 1: civil and military leaders. It reported on the destruction of 354 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:28,400 Speaker 1: the schools, churches, businesses, and homes, and on the murders, 355 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 1: sexual assaults, and rapes. It also detailed incidents of white 356 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 1: residents trying to shelter and protect black people. Most often 357 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 1: these were landlords and employers who were trying to protect 358 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:42,840 Speaker 1: people who lived on their property or worked for them. 359 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: Although at least forty of the known perpetrators served in 360 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:50,880 Speaker 1: the Confederate Army, the people who were interviewed really focused 361 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,160 Speaker 1: on the fact that they were Irish, not on their 362 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: status as former Confederates. In his testimony, General Stoneman tried 363 00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:02,920 Speaker 1: to dispel ideas that were circulating about the soldier's conduct 364 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:07,600 Speaker 1: having justified the massacre. He acknowledged that some had behaved 365 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 1: lawlessly on the night of May the first, and said 366 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: that was inexcusable, but he said that overall their conduct 367 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:18,160 Speaker 1: compared very favorably to that of white troops and similar circumstances. 368 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,680 Speaker 1: Other officers also testified to the black troops general good 369 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:24,879 Speaker 1: conduct and said that none of them had tried to 370 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 1: mistreat or attack the white population in any way. Captain 371 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: Thomas J. Dornan said quote, I never saw any riotous 372 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:35,520 Speaker 1: act among them, and one thing I will say for 373 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:38,320 Speaker 1: them that there is no number of white soldiers that 374 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:41,159 Speaker 1: I ever saw that could be held in such subjection 375 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: as they were when their houses were being burned as 376 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: theirs were. I could not have expected it, never could 377 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:51,879 Speaker 1: have believed it could be done. The congressional report also 378 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 1: included the oral testimonies of the people who were interviewed. 379 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:00,080 Speaker 1: These testimonies included those of five black women who brave 380 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,960 Speaker 1: testified about having been raped. Those were Lucy Tibbs, Harriet Armer, 381 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:10,119 Speaker 1: Francis Thompson, Lucy Smith, and Rebecca Ann Bloom. Lucy Smith 382 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:14,400 Speaker 1: was Francis Thompson's sixteen year old housemate. Both of them 383 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 1: testified that men had come to their house. Francis had 384 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:19,919 Speaker 1: said there were six men, and Lucy said there were seven. 385 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 1: Both of them said that men had demanded food, so 386 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,800 Speaker 1: they had fed them. They both testified that after the 387 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,879 Speaker 1: men were done eating, they raped Smith and Thompson both 388 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,639 Speaker 1: so badly that they had to get medical treatment and 389 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:37,240 Speaker 1: stay in bed for about two weeks afterward. Lucy thought 390 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 1: that the men had been particularly violent toward them because 391 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:44,040 Speaker 1: they had pictures of Union officers in the house, including 392 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 1: one of Union General Joseph Hooker. The committee's members came 393 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:52,880 Speaker 1: to very different conclusions, and those conclusions fell along political lines. 394 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: Its Republican members concluded that what happened in Memphis was 395 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 1: not a riot, it was a massacre. They pair offf 396 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,480 Speaker 1: Race General Stoneman as saying the black population of Memphis 397 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,359 Speaker 1: quote had nothing to do with it after the first day, 398 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:11,680 Speaker 1: except to be killed and abused. Conversely, Democrat George Shanklin 399 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: put more of the blame on the black community for 400 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:19,160 Speaker 1: instigating the violence and Tennessee's disenfranchisement law for barring most 401 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 1: of the city's property owners and businessmen from voting, leaving 402 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:27,560 Speaker 1: people from quote the more inferior classes of society to 403 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,840 Speaker 1: be elected quote against the consent of the masses of 404 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:35,000 Speaker 1: the better population of the city. Shanklin also cited the 405 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:39,359 Speaker 1: quote antagonistic interest and feelings of hostility that exists between 406 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:44,960 Speaker 1: the laboring classes of foreign population and the Negro race. Yeah, 407 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: just to be clear, the black population had not instigated 408 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:52,760 Speaker 1: the violence. He was blaming them here for things that 409 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:56,520 Speaker 1: had they had not done. As the Select Committee was 410 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:00,879 Speaker 1: conducting its interviews, Harper's Weekly printed a front page article 411 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:04,320 Speaker 1: about the massacre. It was illustrated with the depiction of 412 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,840 Speaker 1: a mob burning down a freedman's schoolhouse and one of 413 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:11,320 Speaker 1: a group of houses in flames, with black families trying 414 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:15,280 Speaker 1: to flee as men brandished weapons and fired at them. 415 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: Harper's described this incident as quote a disgrace to civilization, 416 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,920 Speaker 1: but it also framed the quote lower class of white 417 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:29,359 Speaker 1: citizens and the third United States Colored Infantry as equally 418 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 1: responsible for the original incident on the first day, but 419 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:38,639 Speaker 1: after that point, Harper's described the mob as indiscriminately killing 420 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:42,119 Speaker 1: people who were simply going about their days, doing their 421 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:45,879 Speaker 1: jobs or trying to get to safety. This article also 422 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 1: made a comparison between what happened in Memphis and the 423 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,600 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty three New York Draft riots, which were similarly 424 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:56,679 Speaker 1: carried out by a predominantly Irish mob. The House Select 425 00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,920 Speaker 1: Committee left Memphis for Washington, d C. On June sixth, 426 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: and by that point the massacre had become a national 427 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:06,080 Speaker 1: news story beyond the reporting Tracy just talked about in 428 00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:10,360 Speaker 1: Harper's Weekly. On June thirteenth, the House voted to propose 429 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,400 Speaker 1: that the fourteenth Amendment be ratified, and it was sent 430 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:17,160 Speaker 1: to the States for ratification on June sixteenth, eighteen sixty six. 431 00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:21,119 Speaker 1: The massacre has been credited with giving this a sense 432 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:25,400 Speaker 1: of urgency since the Fourteenth Amendments first section includes quote 433 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,840 Speaker 1: No State shall make or enforce any law which shall 434 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. 435 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:37,320 Speaker 1: Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, 436 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:41,400 Speaker 1: or property without due process of law, nor deny to 437 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 1: any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 438 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 1: On July twenty fourth, eighteen sixty six, perhaps surprisingly considering 439 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:53,880 Speaker 1: that it had just been the site of a racist 440 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,800 Speaker 1: massacre two months before, Tennessee was readmitted to the Union. 441 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:02,240 Speaker 1: Although the House Committee, the Freedman's Bureau, and the military 442 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:06,880 Speaker 1: all investigated the massacre, no charges were ever filed against 443 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: any of the perpetrators. Almost all of Memphis's elected officials 444 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 1: were replaced in the eighteen sixty six election, and the 445 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:20,480 Speaker 1: police and firefighting forces also turned over almost completely. Tennessee 446 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:24,560 Speaker 1: also passed the Metropolitan Police Bill in eighteen sixty six, 447 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:28,560 Speaker 1: which gave the governor the authority to appoint commissioners to 448 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: oversee the police in four cities, one of those was Memphis, 449 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:38,120 Speaker 1: basically took control of the police force out of Memphis's 450 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,960 Speaker 1: direct hands. This law was repealed in eighteen sixty nine. 451 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 1: While there were virtually no consequences for the perpetrators beyond 452 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:50,440 Speaker 1: being voted out of office, the Memphis massacre and the 453 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 1: investigations and news reporting around it are credited with galvanizing 454 00:29:55,160 --> 00:30:00,440 Speaker 1: radical Republicans and voters. As a quick recap, black actor vists, 455 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:05,200 Speaker 1: radical Republican legislators, and others had been pushing President Abraham 456 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 1: Lincoln on the need for rights and protections for black 457 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,520 Speaker 1: people and for strict requirements before Confederate states could be 458 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:15,960 Speaker 1: readmitted to the Union. That was happening for years before 459 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:21,000 Speaker 1: his assassination in eighteen sixty five. His successor, Vice President 460 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,360 Speaker 1: Andrew Johnson, who had served as military governor of Tennessee, 461 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,720 Speaker 1: was more lenient toward the rebelling states and former Confederate leaders. 462 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 1: His less ambitious plan became known as Presidential Reconstruction, But 463 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: in the elections that took place the November after this massacre, 464 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:42,719 Speaker 1: Republicans won majorities in both the Senate and the House, 465 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:47,120 Speaker 1: and that began the era known as Congressional Reconstruction or 466 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:52,719 Speaker 1: radical reconstruction. Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts of eighteen sixty seven, 467 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:56,719 Speaker 1: which organized the rebelling States or the formerly rebelling states 468 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: into military districts except for Tennessee, which had already been readmitted, 469 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:04,920 Speaker 1: and then required those states to pass new constitutions that 470 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 1: had to be approved by Congress. Those constitutions had to 471 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,760 Speaker 1: include suffrage for all men, regardless of race, and the 472 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:15,720 Speaker 1: states had to approve the Fourteenth Amendment to be readmitted. 473 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:19,560 Speaker 1: The Memphis massacre and another massacre that took place in 474 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,880 Speaker 1: New Orleans in July of eighteen sixty six are seen 475 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:27,959 Speaker 1: as providing obvious evidence that the black population had to 476 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:32,000 Speaker 1: have equal rights any core protections under the laws. This 477 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:35,800 Speaker 1: also connects to the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment by 478 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,720 Speaker 1: the States. It was ratified on July ninth, eighteen sixty eight. 479 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:42,520 Speaker 1: At the top of the show, we said that the 480 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:46,800 Speaker 1: first known transgender person to testify before a Congressional committee 481 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:52,280 Speaker 1: did so after the Memphis riots. To be clear, the 482 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: word transgender as is just a term that didn't exist 483 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,960 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty six, and it's not a concept that 484 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:02,200 Speaker 1: was part of the commonly held understanding of sex and 485 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 1: gender in the US at the time. But there have 486 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:08,720 Speaker 1: always been people across cultures and throughout history whose gender 487 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 1: or sexual orientation hasn't aligned with the standards and expectations 488 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: of their culture. So we're using the broad definition of 489 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:20,640 Speaker 1: transgender here, meaning a person whose gender does not align 490 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:23,960 Speaker 1: with the sex they were assigned at birth. That was 491 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,880 Speaker 1: the case with Francis Thompson, who had been born in 492 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:31,080 Speaker 1: Maryland and enslaved from birth before eventually moving to Memphis 493 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:34,440 Speaker 1: and being freed, not actually sure the order in which 494 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:38,720 Speaker 1: that happened, her move and her freedom. On July eleventh, 495 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,720 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy six, a decade after the massacre, she was 496 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:47,560 Speaker 1: arrested for suspicion of cross dressing. When she was questioned, 497 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:51,840 Speaker 1: she described herself as being quote of double sex or 498 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:56,200 Speaker 1: most likely intersex in modern parlance. She said she had 499 00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:59,320 Speaker 1: been wearing dresses since she was a child. All of 500 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: her friends and neighbors knew her to be a woman, 501 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:04,560 Speaker 1: and she said that had been the case for twenty 502 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:08,800 Speaker 1: seven years, and an article in the Memphis Daily Appeal, 503 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:12,760 Speaker 1: she described herself as quote regarded always as a woman. 504 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:17,520 Speaker 1: After these allegations, Thompson was forced to undergo a physical 505 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:22,280 Speaker 1: examination by a panel of four doctors. They concluded that 506 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:26,560 Speaker 1: she was male. Afterwards, she was forced to wear men's 507 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:30,400 Speaker 1: clothing and a station housekeeper basically put her on exhibit. 508 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,920 Speaker 1: At the jail, she was fined and sentenced to work 509 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:36,160 Speaker 1: on a chain gang. Despite the fact that she was 510 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:39,760 Speaker 1: physically disabled. She used a cane and said that she'd 511 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:44,160 Speaker 1: had cancer in her foot. Thompson contracted pneumonia while being 512 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:46,760 Speaker 1: forced to work on that chain gang and died in 513 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:51,320 Speaker 1: a hospital on November first, eighteen seventy six. This is 514 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:55,120 Speaker 1: obviously a sad and dehumanizing thing to have happened to her, 515 00:33:55,840 --> 00:34:00,640 Speaker 1: and news reporting around all of this was horrible. Articles 516 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:04,400 Speaker 1: implied or stated that Thompson was a sex worker. It's 517 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,920 Speaker 1: really not clear whether that was true, since cross dressing 518 00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:11,600 Speaker 1: was associated with sex work, and she's also described as 519 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:17,399 Speaker 1: a cook and a domestic worker, sometimes in the same article. Regardless, 520 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,399 Speaker 1: the idea of sex work was used to discredit her. 521 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:25,360 Speaker 1: Articles also framed her as criminal and deviant when she 522 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 1: said she planned to leave Memphis after being released. Police 523 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:32,680 Speaker 1: took photographs of her, one in a dress and one 524 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:35,800 Speaker 1: an immen's shirt, jacket and hat, so that they could 525 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:40,440 Speaker 1: distribute those photographs to other jurisdictions. A New York publication 526 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:44,400 Speaker 1: called The Day's Doings made illustrations from these photographs and 527 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:49,520 Speaker 1: published them. Newspapers also dug up other examples of people 528 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:53,719 Speaker 1: accused of cross dressing, especially other black people accused of 529 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:57,759 Speaker 1: cross dressing to hype up the idea that this was 530 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:02,600 Speaker 1: some kind of ongoing massive skge. This happened as the 531 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 1: period of Reconstruction was coming to an end. The former 532 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 1: Confederate States had all been readmitted to the Union, and 533 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:12,440 Speaker 1: there had been a brief window in which civil rights 534 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:15,360 Speaker 1: and legal protections for black people had led to some 535 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:20,360 Speaker 1: first steps toward racial equality, but a backlash had followed, 536 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:25,440 Speaker 1: including the passage of discriminatory laws that relegated Black Americans 537 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:30,560 Speaker 1: to second class citizenship. Reconstruction is considered to have ended 538 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:33,960 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy seven after a compromise to settle the 539 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:37,719 Speaker 1: outcome of the eighteen seventy six election included the removal 540 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:41,480 Speaker 1: of the last federal troops from the former Confederate States. 541 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:44,759 Speaker 1: The US was on the cusp of the period that 542 00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:49,040 Speaker 1: has been described as the Natiir of race relations. The 543 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:54,200 Speaker 1: news reporting around Francis Thompson's eighteen seventy six arrest and 544 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:59,320 Speaker 1: sentencing was connected to this. Newspapers all across the country 545 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:03,480 Speaker 1: either wrote or republished articles that led with her testimony 546 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:07,480 Speaker 1: before the Select Committee, and then they accused her of 547 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:11,440 Speaker 1: committing perjury during that testimony, saying that she was lying 548 00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:16,439 Speaker 1: about having been raped. These reports called not just her 549 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:21,200 Speaker 1: testimony into question, but the whole investigation into the eighteen 550 00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:26,680 Speaker 1: sixty six massacre, and, by extension, congressional Republicans and the 551 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:32,440 Speaker 1: entire project of congressional reconstruction. By the early twentieth century, 552 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:36,439 Speaker 1: the Memphis Massacre and Francis Thompson had largely fallen out 553 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:40,520 Speaker 1: of public memory. That continued until the approach of the 554 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:45,720 Speaker 1: Massacres one hundred and fiftieth anniversary. In twenty sixteen, Among 555 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:49,280 Speaker 1: other things, the University of Memphis hosted a whole semester 556 00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:53,480 Speaker 1: of workshops, talks by historians, and other events, culminating in 557 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:57,520 Speaker 1: a symposium on the massacre. This was to both encourage 558 00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:00,880 Speaker 1: new research into the massacre and to spread awareness of 559 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:06,080 Speaker 1: its history. A historical marker was also erected in twenty sixteen, 560 00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:09,759 Speaker 1: and that's something that illustrates how debates over how to 561 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:14,719 Speaker 1: interpret this event have continued until today. The Tennessee Historical 562 00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:18,359 Speaker 1: Marker Commission wanted the term race riot at the top 563 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:22,680 Speaker 1: of the marker, while Black historians, the NAACP, and others 564 00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:26,320 Speaker 1: felt that term was not reflective of what had actually 565 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:29,200 Speaker 1: happened and would give people who only looked at the 566 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:33,399 Speaker 1: heading the wrong idea about what had happened. The NAACP 567 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:37,360 Speaker 1: ultimately wound up putting up a marker privately in conjunction 568 00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:42,120 Speaker 1: with the city headed eighteen sixty six Memphis Massacre, rather 569 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:44,960 Speaker 1: than going through the State Historical Marker Commission and having 570 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:48,840 Speaker 1: that race riot language on there. Sometimes you got to 571 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:52,600 Speaker 1: go around instead of through. Do do you have listener 572 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:55,520 Speaker 1: mail for us? I do have listener mail. This listener 573 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:58,920 Speaker 1: mail is from Amelia, who wrote about an episode Holly 574 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:02,239 Speaker 1: wrote and one about and I wrote. Amelia wrote, Hey, 575 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:05,040 Speaker 1: Holly and Tracy. I live in metro Atlanta and recently 576 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:07,960 Speaker 1: returned from a trip to Philadelphia. So the Richard Peters 577 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:11,000 Speaker 1: podcast was well timed and I enjoyed learning about his 578 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:14,160 Speaker 1: life and lasting impacts on the city of Atlanta. Can 579 00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:17,600 Speaker 1: you imagine what the property he owned would be worth today? 580 00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:21,040 Speaker 1: I be Hall, built by Richard's son, is a beautiful 581 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:22,640 Speaker 1: home and I tried to get married there but it 582 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:25,439 Speaker 1: didn't work out. We later got married in the Hay 583 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:30,719 Speaker 1: House in Macon. The Mom's Mabley podcast reminded me of 584 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:34,120 Speaker 1: my trip to mom's hometown of Brevard, North Carolina. Did 585 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:36,560 Speaker 1: you know the town is known for their white squirrels. 586 00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:40,359 Speaker 1: All the downtown businesses promote the white squirrel with merchandise 587 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:43,160 Speaker 1: and signage, and even have a big festival each year. 588 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:45,960 Speaker 1: I thought it was just a funny mascot until I 589 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:49,840 Speaker 1: saw one myself. Rumor has it a white squirrel escaped 590 00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:52,839 Speaker 1: from a carnival. I attached a picture of myself as 591 00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:55,080 Speaker 1: a white squirrel with my aunts and a picture of 592 00:38:55,360 --> 00:38:58,440 Speaker 1: the real squirrel. Thank you for your podcast. You've covered 593 00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:01,440 Speaker 1: topics I have never thought to wonder about. In topics 594 00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:04,839 Speaker 1: I greatly enjoy, like embroidery. We also have a lot 595 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:07,280 Speaker 1: of fur babies, so I have no shortage of pet tacks. 596 00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:10,320 Speaker 1: I've attached a picture of Indie, my black German Shepherd 597 00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:13,640 Speaker 1: husky mix who loves cold weather like me. And my cats. 598 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,880 Speaker 1: Juniper the tuxedo or the Russian Blue and Helena the 599 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:21,760 Speaker 1: blind torty were pictured together, and we recently foster failed 600 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:24,480 Speaker 1: with Danny, a three legged torty who fits right in 601 00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:27,400 Speaker 1: with our pack. We frequently find them all sleeping together 602 00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:32,400 Speaker 1: in one big cat pile. Sincerely, Amelia, thank you so 603 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:38,120 Speaker 1: much for this Amelia. I when I read this, I 604 00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:40,879 Speaker 1: was like, why have I never heard of this white 605 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:44,400 Speaker 1: squirrel situation in Brevard because I've been to Brevard a 606 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:47,520 Speaker 1: number of times, and then I realized that like my 607 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:51,840 Speaker 1: going to Brevard was never to the downtown area of Brevard, 608 00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:54,840 Speaker 1: it was to get to Pisga National Forest and go hiking. 609 00:39:57,080 --> 00:40:00,400 Speaker 1: Had no concept that there was a white squirrel trend 610 00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:02,440 Speaker 1: is not the right word. There are real white squirrels 611 00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:04,799 Speaker 1: that live there, and they're also kind of a theme. 612 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:08,320 Speaker 1: And then we have adorable animal pictures. They're always so good. 613 00:40:09,239 --> 00:40:12,399 Speaker 1: So thank you so much Amelia for this email. If 614 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:14,160 Speaker 1: you would like to write to us, we're at History 615 00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:17,440 Speaker 1: Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com. If you would like to 616 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:20,120 Speaker 1: look at the show notes for all of our episodes, 617 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:23,880 Speaker 1: they are at our website which is at mistonhistory dot com. 618 00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:26,799 Speaker 1: And you can subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio 619 00:40:26,840 --> 00:40:30,800 Speaker 1: app and anywhere else you'd like to get your podcasts. 620 00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:37,800 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 621 00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:42,719 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 622 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:44,880 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.