WEBVTT - The Memphis Massacre 0:00:01.320 --> 0:00:04.240 Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:14.480 of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:18.279 Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. We are coming up on 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:21.840 the one hundred and sixtieth anniversary of the Memphis Massacre 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:25.680 of eighteen sixty six, and it is a coincidence that 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:29.040 this episode is coming out right alongside that anniversary. I 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:32.880 had originally planned a somewhat different episode, and the focus 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:34.879 shifted along the way, and we will talk about that 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:39.239 in our Friday Behind the Scenes. This was a truly 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:45.600 horrific wave of destruction and violence, including sexual violence and murders, 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:49.200 against the black community of Memphis, just a year after 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:52.960 the end of the US Civil War. The perpetrators of 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:57.520 this included police officers and firefighters, and the victims included 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:00.920 veterans who had fought for the United States during the war. 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:04.920 We've talked about a number of other similar waves of 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:08.520 mass anti black violence on the show, including the Wilmington 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:12.520 Coup of eighteen ninety eight, the Tulsa Massacre of nineteen 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:16.320 twenty one, and multiple incidents that took place in and 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:19.560 around the Red Summer of nineteen nineteen just as examples. 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.360 So the Memphis massacre was part of this pattern of violence, 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:26.800 and these incidents all had some similar traits, but what 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:30.160 happened in Memphis also had a couple of aspects that 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:33.400 really set it apart. It played a role in the 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:36.959 passage and ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:42.240 and the investigations that followed. The massacre heard the first 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:46.640 known testimony of a transgender person before a Congressional committee, 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:51.280 so for background. In eighteen eighteen, the United States and 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:54.840 the Chickasaw Nations signed the Treaty of Tuscaloosa, also known 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:58.360 as the Treaty of Old Town. The negotiators on the 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:02.400 US side were future President Andrew Jackson and former Kentucky 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:06.320 Governor Isaac Shelby, and the Chickasaw Nation was represented by 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:10.840 brothers Levi and George Colbert. Under this treaty, the US 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:14.080 purchased land between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers in what 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:18.000 is now Kentucky and Tennessee, with the Chickasaw Nation receiving 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:21.480 three hundred thousand dollars at the rate of twenty thousand 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:26.120 dollars annually for fifteen years. This became known as the 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:30.800 Jackson Purchase. This, of course, is just one tiny piece 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:34.799 of the United States relationship with the Chickasaw Nation. Among 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:38.119 other things, the Treaty of Tuscaloosa was one of several 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:42.400 that were signed in eighteen eighteen. Jackson would face allegations 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:46.600 of corruption over his land speculations during these negotiations, and 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:49.600 the Chickasaw Nation would later be one of the indigenous 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:52.560 nations that was forced to move west under the Indian 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:55.760 Removal Act of eighteen thirty. That act, of course, was 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:58.560 passed early in Jackson's presidency and was part of his 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:04.919 overall policy toward indigenous people. The part of this history 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:07.519 that is most relevant to today's episode, though, is the 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:11.280 Jackson Purchase, since a year later, the city of Memphis 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:15.960 was established on a part of the acquired land. Tennessee 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:18.560 had been admitted to the Union as a slave state 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:22.760 in seventeen ninety six, and on June eighth, eighteen sixty one, 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:25.080 a few months after the start of the Civil War, 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:30.640 Tennessee residents voted to secede from the Union. Tennessee was 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:33.799 the last state to secede, and this vote was largely 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:39.320 split along regional lines. East Tennessee voted decisively to remain 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:42.640 in the Union, and a substantial majority of West Tennessee, 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:47.280 where Memphis is, voted to secede. East Tennessee is in 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:50.840 the Appalachian mountains and foothills, and slavery was not widely 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:53.760 practiced there, which was not the case in the western 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:57.320 part of the state. The United States captured Memphis from 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:01.040 the Confederacy on June six, eighteen sixty one. Two. The 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:05.240 Confederacy launched a series of raids and incursions into Memphis 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.440 after this, including the Second Battle of Memphis in eighteen 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:12.600 sixty four, but the city remained in Union hands for 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:15.680 the rest of the war, and the population of Memphis 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:20.000 changed dramatically during that time. In eighteen sixty Memphis had 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:23.599 about twenty two thousand residents. The next census was not 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:27.440 until eighteen seventy, so there's not an exact population number 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:30.560 for eighteen sixty six, when the massacre happened, but it's 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:34.200 estimated to have been around thirty five thousand or forty 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:38.760 thousand people. Many of those new residents were black, including 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:42.080 people who had fled from more rural areas after hearing 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:46.400 that Memphis was under Union control. President Lincoln issued the 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:51.080 Emancipation Proclamation on January first, eighteen sixty three, and six 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:54.960 months later, the third US Colored Heavy Artillery was established 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.719 and started recruiting black soldiers who were garrisoned at Fort 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:02.880 Pickering in Memphis. That same year, the US decided to 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:06.800 consolidate some of its contraband camps in the Mississippi River Valley, 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:09.839 and Memphis was chosen as one of the locations to 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:14.279 move people to. We have done an episode about these camps. 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.760 They were established to house people who liberated themselves from 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:21.840 enslavement and made it to Union territory or were confiscated 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:26.240 when Confederate sites were captured. Memphis also became home to 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:30.000 a Freedman's Bureau office in eighteen sixty five, which freed 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:33.320 people saw as a resource for protection and help and 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:36.360 became another reason to go to the city. There were 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:40.560 about four thousand enslaved and free black people in Memphis 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:43.720 in eighteen sixty and at that point, the city's population 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:47.480 was about eighty percent white. As a result of everything 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:49.840 we just talked about. When the war ended in eighteen 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:54.320 sixty five, the city's free black population had quadrupled to 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:58.440 about sixteen thousand people. And made up about forty percent 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:03.200 of the city's population. Some estimates are even higher, estimating 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:05.880 a black majority in Memphis at some points in the 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:11.440 mid eighteen sixties, Memphis's Irish population had also grown dramatically. 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:15.080 The Great Famine had started in eighteen forty five, and 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:20.000 people fleeing Ireland typically arrived at northeastern ports, but many 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:23.000 started making their way to Kentucky and Tennessee in the 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:27.719 eighteen fifties to find work building railroads. Prior to eighteen 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:31.240 fifty three, most of the manual laborers building railroads were 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:35.760 enslaved Africans who the railroad companies rented from there enslavers, 0:06:36.480 --> 0:06:39.359 But that year the Supreme Court of Alabama ruled that 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:43.080 people who rented enslaved laborers would be liable if they 0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:46.640 were harmed doing work that they didn't typically do, like 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:50.000 building a railroad instead of working in a field. In 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:53.360 other words, the railroads would have to compensate in slavers 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.599 for injuries or deaths among the people who were considered 0:06:56.640 --> 0:07:01.440 their property. It became more economical to higher Irish laborers, 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:03.880 who didn't have that financial risk if they were hurt 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:07.400 or killed doing the work. In eighteen fifty less than 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:11.000 ten percent of the population of Memphis was Irish. That 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:15.400 number more than doubled by eighteen sixty If you've listened 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:18.160 to some of our other episodes about this kind of 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:22.200 mob violence, including previous Hosts episode on the New York 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:26.600 Draft riots of eighteen sixty three, this probably sounds familiar. 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:31.560 There were black and Irish entrepreneurs in Memphis, but aside 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:35.320 from the soldiers, most black and Irish men were competing 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:40.040 for the same jobs doing manual labor. Irish laborers saw 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.320 the influx of black people into Memphis as a threat 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:47.400 to their livelihoods, and this was particularly true immediately after 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.360 the Civil War, when slavery had been abolished and the 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:54.480 city was in an economic recession, mostly staying afloat through 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:59.280 investments and loans from the North. Broadly speaking, the Irish 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:02.920 community also had a strong sense of solidarity, in part 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:06.160 because they faced so much bigotry and derision from other 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:10.880 white people. Sometimes you'll see this described as Irish immigrants 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:15.800 not being considered white, but that's not exactly true. Irish 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:20.040 immigrants to the United States could and did become US citizens. 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:23.760 They could vote, and own property and hold public office, 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:27.200 things that people who were not considered white would not 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:29.480 be allowed to do They were barred from those activities. 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:32.600 It was more like Irish immigrants were thought of as 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:36.520 the wrong kind of white people. For example, a Freedman's 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:39.880 Bureau report on the massacre refers to the instigators who 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:44.440 were predominantly Irish as quote low whites at two different points. 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:49.000 The Congressional report on the massacre uses both Irish and white. 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:53.400 In eighteen sixty six, Irish people also had a lot 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:58.040 of political power and influence in Memphis. The year before, 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:02.560 Tennessee had passed a distance franchisement law that stripped former 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:05.920 Confederates and Confederate sympathizers of the right to vote for 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:09.040 a minimum of fifteen years. A lot of the people 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:13.480 who had previously held office in Memphis were wealthy landowners 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:17.440 and slaveholders, and they were affected by this law. Even 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:21.319 if they hadn't explicitly sided with the Confederacy or if 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:24.880 they had not been in favor of Tennessee's secession, A 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:27.240 lot of them refused to do things like take a 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:33.439 loyalty oath that was required that endorsed the Emancipation Proclamation. Meanwhile, 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:36.760 the vast majority of the Irish residents of Tennessee were 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:40.000 newly arrived in the United States and didn't feel a 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:42.559 real connection to the war or a reason to fight. 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:47.120 They only did because they had been conscripted. Most were 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:51.920 also poor and had never enslaved anyone. Some who had 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.600 served in the Confederate military could make the case that 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:57.840 they had been forced into service and had otherwise remained 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:02.400 loyal to the United States. Others deserted the Confederacy and 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:05.960 fought for the United States after the Union took control 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:09.040 of the area where they were so. In the eighteen 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:14.240 sixty five municipal election in Memphis, Irish Men were disproportionately 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:19.079 still able to vote, while non Irish white men disproportionately 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:23.040 were not. John Park, who was either Irish or the 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:26.600 child of Irish immigrants, I found sources calling him each 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:30.520 of those things. He was elected mayor. Irish Men were 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:33.560 elected to nine of the sixteen seats on the Board 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:37.560 of Aldermen. Irish people also held two thirds of all 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:41.600 the elected and appointed offices in the Memphis government. The 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:45.439 large majority of the police and firefighters in Memphis were 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:49.400 also Irish. All of this is part of the context 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:51.800 for this massacre which we will talk about after we 0:10:51.880 --> 0:11:05.160 pause for a sponsor break. During and after the Civil War, 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.400 the black population of Memphis fought to be treated with 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:12.880 dignity and respect. This was particularly true of black soldiers 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:16.120 and veterans, who felt that they had earned that dignity 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:19.640 and respect through their service to the United States, and 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:24.320 whose presence in uniform was just really galling to people 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:27.920 who thought that they should not have it. For months 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.679 leading up to the massacre, black people in Memphis had 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:35.560 faced increasing antagonism and harassment from the city's white population, 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:42.120 including and especially its predominantly Irish police force and firefighting forces. 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:46.959 This really spiraled, with black soldiers and veterans and civilians 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:52.199 pushing back against racism, wrongful arrest, police brutality, and other mistreatment, 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:56.240 only for the white population to become even more hostile. 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:01.000 This whole cycle also seemed to strengthen this of solidarity 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:05.760 among Irish immigrants, who had an increasingly US versus them mentality, 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:10.960 with US specifically meaning Irish people, not white people. More broadly. 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:15.880 In April of eighteen sixty six, the Civil War was over, 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:19.640 and black soldiers stationed at Fort Pickering were waiting to 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:23.560 be paid and mustered out. Of the Army. On April thirtieth, 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:26.560 a group of black soldiers were walking down Cosey Street 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:30.599 when four Irish police officers forced them off the sidewalk. 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:34.760 The details of this aren't clear, like I don't know 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:37.280 if there was some instigation of forcing them off the 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:42.000 sidewalk besides just to be antagonistic. But one witness said 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:45.600 that some words passed between the men, but not what 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:48.480 was said other than that strong language was used on 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:51.720 both sides. One of the soldiers fell and then one 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:55.199 of the police officers tripped over him. Then the police 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:59.000 officers attacked the soldiers, including one who started beating the 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:03.160 men with his pistol. This fight went on for several minutes, 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:05.840 and in the words of the Freedman's Bureau report on 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:10.680 the massacre quote, both parties then separated, deferring the settlement 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:15.040 by mutual consent to some future time. Most of the 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:18.480 black soldiers were mustered out of the army on April thirtieth, 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:21.640 but they didn't receive their back pay until May first. 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:25.719 That day, after being paid, many of them went out 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:29.560 to celebrate. A Large group of people, including women and children, 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:33.079 congregated on South Street, which was seen as a border 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:37.160 between white and black neighborhoods of Memphis. This crowd was 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:41.120 boisterous and loud, with some people singing and dancing. Some 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.600 of them were intoxicated, none of which is surprising since 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:47.440 they had just been mustered out of the army after 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:50.200 serving in a war and had just gotten the back 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:53.320 pay that they had been waiting for. Yes, this was 0:13:53.360 --> 0:14:00.000 definitely rowdy. Understandably, that is exactly the time you should celebrate. Correct. 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.800 Police arrived and they arrested two black men from the 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:07.880 crowd and tried to escort them from the scene. Several 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:11.520 other black men tried to intervene. They surrounded the police 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.000 and the men they'd taken into custody, and they fired 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:18.040 their pistols into the air. The police officers thought they 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:21.400 were being fired upon, and they started firing into the 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:25.600 crowd again. In the words of the freedman Spiau report quote, 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:31.360 during this afray, one police officer was wounded in the finger. Another, Stevens, 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:34.560 was shot by the accidental discharge of the pistol in 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:38.920 his own hand, and afterward died. Word of what was 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:43.080 happening started to spread through Memphis, including rumors that black 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:45.760 residents were going to try to take over the city. 0:14:46.720 --> 0:14:49.560 John C. Creighton, the city recorder, went out into the 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:53.360 streets and made a speech on horseback, encouraging the white 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.560 residents around them to arm themselves and to try to 0:14:56.680 --> 0:15:02.680 kill Memphis's black population or them from the city. Shelby 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:06.960 County Sheriff TM Winters went to Major General George Stoneman, 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:09.640 who was in command of the troops in Memphis, to 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:14.000 ask for military help in restoring order. By that point, 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:16.720 though most of the troops who had been in Memphis 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:21.520 had been mustered out or transferred elsewhere. Stoneman argued that 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:23.960 he only had enough men on hand to try to 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:28.440 protect government property from the mob. He also pointed out 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:31.040 that the people of Memphis had been very ready to 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:33.720 get rid of the federal troops who had been stationed 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:37.520 there to enforce the law. His attitude was sort of like, well, 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:41.680 you all claimed you were competent and able to take 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:44.480 care of yourselves, so we sent most of the troops 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:48.760 away like you asked, and now look where we are. Meanwhile, 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.320 Winters raised a posse that seems to add to the 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:57.360 violence rather than controlling it. The violence in Memphis stretched 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:01.360 from May first through the third, eighteen sixty sive again. 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:04.400 In the words of the Freedmen's Bureau report quote, the 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:07.400 city seemed to be under the control of a lawless mob. 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:12.040 During this and the two succeeding days, all crimes imaginable 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:16.880 were committed, from simple larceny to rape and murder. Several 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:21.440 women and children were shot in bed. One woman, Rachel Johnson, 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.240 was shot and then thrown into the flames of a 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:28.800 burning house and consumed. Another was forced twice through the 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:33.680 flames and finally escaped. In some instances, houses were fired 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:37.120 and armed men guarded them to prevent the escape of 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:41.400 those inside. A number of men, whose loyalty is undoubted. 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:45.000 Long residents of Memphis who depreciated the riot during its 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:49.320 progress were denominated Yankees and abolitionists, and were informed in 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:54.560 language more emphatic than gentlemanly that their presence here was unnecessary. 0:16:55.880 --> 0:17:00.960 Mayor John Park was described as totally losing control of subordinates. 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:07.560 Those subordinates, including the police officers and firefighters who terrorized, raped, robbed, 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:11.440 and killed black residents of the city. Park was described 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:15.560 as intoxicated during part or most of the time, and 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:18.760 unable to carry out his duties as the mayor. While 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:23.919 other people characterized him as intentionally sowing discord and disorder 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:26.760 among the other city officials to try to get them 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:30.800 to grant him emergency powers. He did make his own 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:34.600 request for Stoneman to send troops, and Stoneman told him 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:37.320 that one hundred and fifty troops would be made available, 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:42.080 but only in the case of quote extreme necessity. He 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:44.960 left it up to Park to determine whether the need 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:50.600 was extreme. Meanwhile, black residents of Memphis flooded the Freedman's 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:54.240 Bureau office to ask Brevet Brigadier General Ben P. Runkle, 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:58.199 chief superintendent for the Bureau in Memphis, for help. He 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:02.440 described himself as human in his inability to help them. 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:05.120 He had no troops to deploy, and when he went 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.639 out to appeal to the mob, no one would listen 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:11.320 to him. Veterans who had turned in their service weapons 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:14.119 when they were mustered out went to General Stoneman to 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:18.080 ask to have them returned, and they were denied. Eventually, 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:22.520 on May third, Stoneman declared martial law, banned the posse 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:25.800 that the sheriff had rallied, and deployed reinforcements from the 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:30.320 fourth US Cavalry to restore order. By that point, forty 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:33.960 six black Americans, many of them US Army veterans, had 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:37.480 been murdered at the hands of white perpetrators. Many of 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:42.360 those perpetrators were Irish police officers and firefighters. About seventy 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:45.640 five other black people had been injured. At least five 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:49.760 black women had been raped. Police and civilians had fired 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:52.280 at patients who were sitting in front of the Freedman's 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:56.399 Bureau hospital and then fired into the hospital itself. The 0:18:56.440 --> 0:19:00.000 mob had burned down between fifty and ninety homes all Way, 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:03.679 along with every black church and school in Memphis, and 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:08.119 they had robbed and burned down black owned businesses. Two 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:11.639 white men were killed over those three days, the police 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:14.520 officer named Stevens who was killed when his own pistol 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:19.240 accidentally discharged, and a firefighter named Dunn, who was shot 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:23.720 and killed by another white man by mistake. A number 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:27.040 of civic and business leaders, many of whom were Irish, 0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:31.800 intentionally spread racism and panic during all this. That included 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:35.520 Attorney General William Wallace, who made public speeches to stoke 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:40.040 anger and racism, and business leader John Pendergrass, who allowed 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:44.520 rioters to use his home as a planning and rallying point. 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:49.040 News reporting played role as well, with conservative newspapers including 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:53.800 The Daily Argus and The Memphis Avalanche publishing just incendiary articles. 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:58.919 These newspapers were already highly critical of the Republican governments 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:02.000 of both the United sis States in Tennessee, and they 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:05.919 were especially critical of the Radical Republican faction, which was 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:09.280 known for their opposition to slavery and their efforts to 0:20:09.359 --> 0:20:14.119 secure freedom and equal rights for black people. These newspapers 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:19.240 framed Radical Republicans as violent and dangerous and described black 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:24.840 people using racist stereotypes. The Avalanche started printing the names 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:28.680 of radical Republicans and rumors that black men who had 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:31.560 been mustered out of service were going to attack the town. 0:20:32.880 --> 0:20:37.120 Multiple investigations were launched within days of the massacre. We're 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:39.240 going to talk more about that after we pause for 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:53.520 a sponsor break. The Memphis massacre took place during congressional 0:20:53.560 --> 0:20:57.520 debates over a constitutional amendment that had been proposed by 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:02.000 the Joint Committee on Reconstruction. Earlier drafts of this amendment 0:21:02.119 --> 0:21:04.960 had failed, but the one that the committee reported to 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:09.160 Congress on April thirtieth, eighteen sixty six was largely the 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:14.400 same as today's fourteenth Amendment. Debates over the newly drafted 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:18.879 amendment started a few days after the massacre ended. On 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:22.639 May tenth, during debates in the House, Representative Thaddeus Stevens 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:26.480 of Pennsylvania referenced the massacre in a speech about the 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:31.560 amendment's third provision, which barred anyone who had quote engaged 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:35.400 in an insurrection or rebellion against the United States from 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:40.000 holding civil or military office. Speaking to representatives who thought 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:43.919 this language was too strong, Stephens said, quote, let not 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:47.480 those friends of secession sing to me their siren song 0:21:47.600 --> 0:21:51.520 of peace and goodwill until they can stop my ears 0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:55.080 to the screams and groans of the dying victims at Memphis. 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:58.439 I hold in my hand an elaborate account from a 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:02.000 man whom I know to be of the highest respectability 0:22:02.080 --> 0:22:05.800 in the country, every word of which I believe. This 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:09.800 account of that foul transaction only reached me last night. 0:22:10.280 --> 0:22:13.480 It is more horrible in its atrocity, although not to 0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:16.840 the same extent than the massacre in Jamaica. Tell me 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:20.639 Tennessee or any other state is loyal of whom such 0:22:20.800 --> 0:22:25.439 things are proved. On May fourteenth, as the debates continued, 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:28.240 Stevens motioned for the House to send a committee to 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:32.560 Memphis to investigate what had happened. The resulting House Select 0:22:32.560 --> 0:22:36.120 Committee was made up of two Republicans, Eli Hugh Washburn 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:41.080 of Illinois and John Brumall of Pennsylvania, and one Democrat, 0:22:41.200 --> 0:22:45.480 George Shanklin of Kentucky. They arrived in Memphis on May 0:22:45.520 --> 0:22:49.520 twenty second. They interviewed one hundred and seventy victims and witnesses, 0:22:49.840 --> 0:22:53.000 as well as officials who had been ostensibly in charge 0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:57.639 in Memphis during the massacre, including Major General Stoneman and 0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:02.600 Mayor John Park. Resulting report, which is not the Freedman's 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:05.080 Bureau report that we have read from earlier. That was 0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:09.080 a much shorter report. The resulting Congressional Report was about 0:23:09.119 --> 0:23:12.880 four hundred pages long and was printed through the Government 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:17.560 Printing Office. It detailed the initial altercation on April thirtieth, 0:23:17.960 --> 0:23:21.040 the incidents that happened afterward, and the decisions made by 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:24.560 civil and military leaders. It reported on the destruction of 0:23:24.600 --> 0:23:28.400 the schools, churches, businesses, and homes, and on the murders, 0:23:28.520 --> 0:23:32.560 sexual assaults, and rapes. It also detailed incidents of white 0:23:32.560 --> 0:23:36.560 residents trying to shelter and protect black people. Most often 0:23:36.600 --> 0:23:40.040 these were landlords and employers who were trying to protect 0:23:40.080 --> 0:23:42.840 people who lived on their property or worked for them. 0:23:43.680 --> 0:23:47.000 Although at least forty of the known perpetrators served in 0:23:47.080 --> 0:23:50.880 the Confederate Army, the people who were interviewed really focused 0:23:50.880 --> 0:23:53.160 on the fact that they were Irish, not on their 0:23:53.200 --> 0:23:59.080 status as former Confederates. In his testimony, General Stoneman tried 0:23:59.119 --> 0:24:02.920 to dispel ideas that were circulating about the soldier's conduct 0:24:03.160 --> 0:24:07.600 having justified the massacre. He acknowledged that some had behaved 0:24:07.680 --> 0:24:10.280 lawlessly on the night of May the first, and said 0:24:10.359 --> 0:24:13.960 that was inexcusable, but he said that overall their conduct 0:24:14.080 --> 0:24:18.160 compared very favorably to that of white troops and similar circumstances. 0:24:19.000 --> 0:24:22.680 Other officers also testified to the black troops general good 0:24:22.720 --> 0:24:24.879 conduct and said that none of them had tried to 0:24:24.960 --> 0:24:29.600 mistreat or attack the white population in any way. Captain 0:24:29.640 --> 0:24:33.240 Thomas J. Dornan said quote, I never saw any riotous 0:24:33.280 --> 0:24:35.520 act among them, and one thing I will say for 0:24:35.600 --> 0:24:38.320 them that there is no number of white soldiers that 0:24:38.359 --> 0:24:41.159 I ever saw that could be held in such subjection 0:24:41.280 --> 0:24:43.960 as they were when their houses were being burned as 0:24:44.000 --> 0:24:47.600 theirs were. I could not have expected it, never could 0:24:47.640 --> 0:24:51.879 have believed it could be done. The congressional report also 0:24:51.960 --> 0:24:55.480 included the oral testimonies of the people who were interviewed. 0:24:56.400 --> 0:25:00.080 These testimonies included those of five black women who brave 0:25:00.320 --> 0:25:04.960 testified about having been raped. Those were Lucy Tibbs, Harriet Armer, 0:25:05.080 --> 0:25:10.119 Francis Thompson, Lucy Smith, and Rebecca Ann Bloom. Lucy Smith 0:25:10.240 --> 0:25:14.400 was Francis Thompson's sixteen year old housemate. Both of them 0:25:14.440 --> 0:25:17.600 testified that men had come to their house. Francis had 0:25:17.600 --> 0:25:19.919 said there were six men, and Lucy said there were seven. 0:25:20.680 --> 0:25:23.720 Both of them said that men had demanded food, so 0:25:23.800 --> 0:25:26.800 they had fed them. They both testified that after the 0:25:26.840 --> 0:25:29.879 men were done eating, they raped Smith and Thompson both 0:25:29.960 --> 0:25:32.639 so badly that they had to get medical treatment and 0:25:32.720 --> 0:25:37.240 stay in bed for about two weeks afterward. Lucy thought 0:25:37.280 --> 0:25:40.560 that the men had been particularly violent toward them because 0:25:40.560 --> 0:25:44.040 they had pictures of Union officers in the house, including 0:25:44.080 --> 0:25:48.600 one of Union General Joseph Hooker. The committee's members came 0:25:48.640 --> 0:25:52.880 to very different conclusions, and those conclusions fell along political lines. 0:25:53.560 --> 0:25:56.720 Its Republican members concluded that what happened in Memphis was 0:25:56.760 --> 0:25:59.960 not a riot, it was a massacre. They pair offf 0:26:00.160 --> 0:26:03.480 Race General Stoneman as saying the black population of Memphis 0:26:03.600 --> 0:26:06.359 quote had nothing to do with it after the first day, 0:26:06.560 --> 0:26:11.680 except to be killed and abused. Conversely, Democrat George Shanklin 0:26:11.800 --> 0:26:14.000 put more of the blame on the black community for 0:26:14.080 --> 0:26:19.160 instigating the violence and Tennessee's disenfranchisement law for barring most 0:26:19.160 --> 0:26:23.280