On Sept. 4, 1875, the Clinton Massacre began during a Republican rally in Clinton, Mississippi, to introduce candidates for the upcoming elections.
A peaceful gathering of over 1,500 Black Republicans, along with about 100 whites, was interrupted by gunfire, leaving five African Americans, including two children, and three white people dead.
In the following days, white mobs killed an estimated fifty African Americans. Despite Governor Ames’ request for federal intervention, President Ulysses Grant refused, leaving local Republicans without protection.
The massacre became a significant chapter of Reconstruction, where violence suppressed political participation and placed Black communities in grave danger.
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