The Griot - Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc.
Abstract
This article examines the scale, patterns, and political implications of racial violence in Texas between 1865 and 1868, arguing that white terror functioned as a systematic effort to suppress Black freedom and restore antebellum racial hierarchies. Drawing on Congressional testimony, Freedmen’s Bureau records, and the 1868 Report of the Special Committee on Lawlessness and Violence in Texas, the study reveals that violence was not random but structured along social, labor, and political lines. Murders, whippings, intimidation, and organized attacks—such as the Millican riot—intensified when freedpeople asserted labor autonomy or political rights. Despite nearly 900 reported murders, convictions were exceedingly rare, exposing the collapse or complicity of local civil authority. While the Freedmen’s Bureau attempted to mediate contracts, protect schools, and secure legal redress, limited manpower and dwindling federal troop presence constrained its effectiveness. The evidence demonstrates that violence was central—not incidental—to the defeat of Black Reconstruction in Texas.
First Page
49
Last Page
67
Recommended Citation
John Gorman, . 2026. "Into the Fire: An Examination of Violence in Reconstruction Texas, 1865-1868." The Griot - Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc. 43, (1):49-67. https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/griot/vol43/iss1/11
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