Massacres in U.S. History
Here is a list of some of the countless massacres in the history of the United States.
Most of these massacres were designed to suppress voting rights, land ownership, economic advancement, education, freedom of the press, religion, LGBTQ rights, and/or labor rights of African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asians, and immigrants. While often referred to as “race riots,” they were massacres to maintain white supremacy.
One of the best explanations about why it is important for students to learn this history is included in the article (and related lesson) by Linda Christensen, Burning Tulsa: The Legacy of Black Dispossession.
A tweet thread by historian Stephen West shows how politicians fueled hate crimes during the Reconstruction era, with parallels today. Ursula Wolfe-Rocca writes about Red Summer of 1919, Remembering Red Summer — Which Textbooks Seem Eager to Forget.
We also offer a list of massacres that includes these same events and massacres in other countries. While this list includes dozens of entries, it is by no means complete.
Hundreds of Pequot villagers were massacred by the Puritans in Mystic, Connecticut.
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The U.S. Army firebombed a fort on the Apalachicola River in Florida.
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On election day, in Louisville, Kentucky, Protestant mobs attacked German and Irish Catholic neighborhoods.
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The New York City Draft Massacre (“Riots”) were the largest civil insurrection in U.S. history besides the Civil War itself. White mobs attacked the African American community — committing murder and burning homes and institutions (including an orphanage.)
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Confederate troops massacred over 500 surrendering Union soldiers, majority African American, at the Civil War Battle of Fort Pillow.
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A Colorado Cavalry unit, on orders from Colorado’s governor and ignoring a surrender flag, brutally attacked Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. White abolitionist Silas Soule was assassinated for reporting on the event.
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People who had escaped from slavery and were following the Union Army, were blocked from crossing the Ebenezer Creek, leading to their death.
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White civilians and police killed 46 African-Americans and injured many more while burning houses, schools, and churches in Memphis, Tennessee.
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The New Orleans Massacre occurred when white residents attacked Black marchers near the reconvened Louisiana Constitutional Convention.
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As African Americans marched peacefully in response to their expulsion from elected office, more than a dozen were massacred near Albany, Georgia.
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In response to the promotion of voter registration, a KKK-like group massacred hundreds of people, most of whom were African American.
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The St. Bernard Parish massacre of African Americans was carried out by white men to terrorize the recently emancipated voters in Louisiana.
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A lynch mob of 500 Anglo and Latino Los Angelinos rioted and murdered at least 17 Chinese residents after a white civilian died in a shootout.
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The Yavapai people’s shelter of Skeleton Cave in Arizona was attacked by the U.S. Army, trying to force them to reservations.
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The Ku Klux Klan carried out the Colfax Massacre in response to a Republican victory in the 1872 elections.
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Deadly election “riots” took place in Barbour County, Alabama against African American politicians and voters.
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White people attacked and killed many Black citizens who had organized for a Black sheriff to remain in office during the Vicksburg Massacre.
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Nearly 50 African-Americans were killed by white mobs during the Clinton Riot.
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During a clear sign of Reconstruction era voter suppression, a Black militia was accused of blocking a road and punished with the Hamburg Massacre.
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African Americans voters were threatened after the Danville Riot, leading to their loss of political power in this majority African American city in Virginia.
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White coal miners in Rock Springs, Wyoming, brutally attacked Chinese workers.
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The Carroll County Courthouse Massacre left 23 Black people dead when an armed white mob attacked an ongoing trial.
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Between 30-60 striking Black Louisiana sugarcane workers were massacred.
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A Lakota encampment on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was attacked by the U.S. Army and close to 300 Native Americans were murdered near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota.
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White workers murdered Black workers in Arkansas who were coming to work on the railways.
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