The Donaldsonville March

On Election Day in 1870, a group of white terrorists in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, illegally seized five of their local parish's ballot boxes and stormed the local courthouse. In response, several Black lawmen led daring efforts to reclaim the votes, culminating in a successful march on the occupied courthouse in which a thousand freedpeople, armed with rusted muskets and cane knives, routed a powerful faction of white insurrectionists and reclaimed their votes. This StoryMap explores the Donaldsonville March of 1870 by providing a brief overview of the town's history, visualizing the march itself using ArcGIS technology, and discussing the meaning and significance behind this forgotten, yet inspiring moment in the history of Reconstruction.