Which is the More Illegal

Thomas Nast created this illustration in 1866 for Harper's Weekly shortly after the New Orleans Riot occurred. He started working at Harper's Weekly in 1862. He was a Radical Republican and supporter of the Union in the Civil War. He rose to fame during that period, and it was said that his work got Abraham Lincoln re-elected. He is most famous for his donkey/elephant symbols for the Democratic/Republican parties. The New Orleans Riot was a response to major shortcomings of Presidential Reconstruction under Andrew Johnson. On July 30th, 1866, a convention was to be held to make headway on the issue of black suffrage. The event resulted in mass racial violence ending in 153 blacks and 20 conventionists wounded or killed. White men, including the police, initiated the attack and this type of violence resembled other events going on at this time in the South. This made it clear to northerners and to Congress that the newly formed governments under Presidential Reconstruction did not intend to protect the rights of blacks or give them the vote. This ultimately led to Congressional Reconstruction, a more aggressive, less conciliatory approach that sought to keep former Confederate leaders out of the new state governments and give blacks a chance to exercise their basic rights.