The 1872 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1872. This was the second election to take place under the Louisiana Constitution of 1868, which established

universal manhood suffrage Universal manhood suffrage is a form of voting rights in which all adult male citizens within a political system are allowed to vote, regardless of income, property, religion, race, or any other qualification. It is sometimes summarized by the s ...

in Louisiana as required by the

Reconstruction Acts The Reconstruction Acts, or the Military Reconstruction Acts, sometimes referred to collectively as the Reconstruction Act of 1867, were four landmark U.S. federal statutes enacted by the 39th and 40th United States Congresses over the veto ...

. The campaign was marred by terrorist and paramilitary action in support of the Democratic Party. Democratic candidate John McEnery disputed the official results, which declared

William Pitt Kellogg William Pitt Kellogg (December 8, 1830 – August 10, 1918) was an American lawyer and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who served as the governor of Louisiana from 1873 to 1877 and twice served as a United States Sen ...

the winner, but Kellogg's claim was supported by

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

. The Democratic Party sought the overthrow of the Kellogg administration, culminating in the

Battle of Liberty Place The Battle of Liberty Place, or Battle of Canal Street, was an attempted insurrection by the Crescent City White League against the Reconstruction Era Louisiana Republican state government on September 14, 1874, in New Orleans, which was the ...

in 1874, where the

White League The White League, also known as the White Man's League, was a white supremacist paramilitary terrorist organization started in the Southern United States in 1874 to intimidate freedmen (emancipated Black former slaves) into not voting and prevent ...

forced Kellogg from office until he was reinstated by federal troops. This was the last time a Republican won the governorship in Louisiana until

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Background

Following the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

and

assassination of Abraham Lincoln On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending the play '' Our American Cousin'' at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Shot in the head as he watched the play, L ...

, President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

pursued a lenient policy of Reconstruction in the Southern United States, recognizing Unionist governments in the South pursuant to Lincoln's

ten percent plan The Ten Percent Plan, formally the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (), was a United States presidential proclamation issued on December 8, 1863, by United States President Abraham Lincoln, during the American Civil War. By this point ...

over the objections of radical Republicans in Congress. Following the 1866 midterm elections, which resulted in sweeping radical gains, Congress passed the

over Johnson's veto. Under the Reconstruction Acts, Southern governments would only be recognized if they ratified the

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Considered one of the most consequential amendments, it addresses Citizenship of the United States ...

and enact a new state constitution approved by Congress. Louisiana enacted a new constitution in April 1868 in an election largely boycotted by the Democratic Party and former Confederates. Henry C. Warmoth, a young Union Army officer from Missouri, was simultaneously elected Governor under conditions of universal manhood suffrage. Warmoth's victory over James G. Taliaferro represented the victory of the "

carpetbagger In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical pejorative used by Southerners to describe allegedly opportunistic or disruptive Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War and were pe ...

" faction of the Republican Party over the faction of native radicals and free men of color. Despite their abstention from the April election, the former Confederates organized in several paramilitary organizations to resist the

, terrorizing Republicans, especially freedmen, during the fall presidential campaign. In a surprising reversal attributed to domestic terrorism and voter intimidation, Democratic candidate

Horatio Seymour Horatio Seymour (May 31, 1810February 12, 1886) was an American politician. He served as the eighteenth Governor of New York from 1853 to 1854 and again from 1863 to 1864. He was the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Pa ...

won the state over

in a landslide.

Candidates

, United States Senator since 1868 (Republican) *

John McEnery John Murray McEnery (1 November 1943 – 12 April 2019) was an English actor. Early life Born in Walsall, England, McEnery was the third son of Charles and Mary McEnery (nee Brinson). McEnery's father owned a pickle factory, however whe ...

, former

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

officer (Democratic and Liberal Republican)

Results

References

{{1872 United States elections

1872 Events January * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. *January 20 – The Cavite mutiny was an uprising of Filipino military personnel of Fort S ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

November 1872