In 1861, Union Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon marched through the divided slave state Missouri en route to St. Louis. Lyon was to arrest a state militia unit at Camp Jackson that planned to raid a federal arsenal in the city. Upon capturing the men, Lyon's troops encountered crowds of hostile citizens and, after a gun shot, they fired on the mob, killing at least 28 civilians in what is now known as the Camp Jackson affair, or the St. Louis massacre. In this book, the author describes partisan activities leading to hostilities, promotes awareness about the history of slavery in America, and explores political divisions still evident in American culture. Previously unpublished materials about Governor Claiborne Jackson are included, as well as the role of Montgomery Blair in the fight for Missouri, an analysis of the number of arms in the St. Louis Arsenal and the unknown total number of casualties of the St. Louis massacre.

In 1861, Union Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon marched through the divided slave state Missouri en route to St. Louis. Lyon was to arrest a state militia unit at Camp Jackson that planned to raid a federal arsenal in the city. Upon capturing the men, Lyon's troops encountered crowds of hostile citizens and, after a gun shot, they fired on the mob, killing at least 28 civilians in what is now known as the Camp Jackson affair, or the St. Louis massacre. In this book, the author describes partisan activities leading to hostilities, promotes awareness about the history of slavery in America, and explores political divisions still evident in American culture. Previously unpublished materials about Governor Claiborne Jackson are included, as well as the role of Montgomery Blair in the fight for Missouri, an analysis of the number of arms in the St. Louis Arsenal and the unknown total number of casualties of the St. Louis massacre.

"Wells...provided damning descriptions of the melee that claimed one too many black lives." -Concrete Demands: The Search for Black Power in the 20th Century (2014) "To Wells...the events at East St. Louis combined some of the worst racist elements...in three days of rioting, 39 African Americans were killed." -Ida B. Wells-Barnett and American Reform (2003) "Her account of the riot which included interviews with riot victims documenting the violent participation of both the National Guard and the East St. Louis police, helped spur a congressional investigation." -To Tell the Truth Freely: The Life of Ida B. Wells (2009) Who was to blame for the East St. Louis Massacre of 1917, a series of outbreaks race-related violence resulting in the deaths of from 40 to 250 African-Americans? Ida B. Wells answers this question in her once government-censored 1917 book "The East St. Louis Massacre." Another 6,000 blacks were left homeless and the burning and vandalism cost approximately $400,000 ($7,982,000 in 2020) in property damage. In describing the scene in East St. Louis, after she arrived in the aftermath of the riot, Wells writes: "No one molested me in my walk from the station to the City Hall, although I did not see a single colored person until I reached the City Hall building. I accosted the lone individual in soldier's uniform at the depot, a mere boy with a gun, and asked him if the governor was in town. When he said no, he had gone to Washington the night before, I asked how the situation was and he said, 'bad.' I asked what was the trouble and he said, 'The Negroes won't let the whites alone. They killed seven yesterday and three already this morning.'" The ferocious brutality of the attacks and the failure of authorities to protect innocent lives contributed to the radicalization of many blacks in St. Louis and the nation. Marcus Garvey, black nationalist leader of the UNIA from Jamaica, declared in a July 8 speech that the riot was "one of the bloodiest outrages against mankind" and a "wholesale massacre of our people", insisting that "This is no time for fine words, but a time to lift one's voice against the savagery of a people who claim to be the dispensers of democracy." In New York City on July 28, ten thousand black people marched down Fifth Avenue in a Silent Parade, protesting the East St. Louis Massacre. They carried signs that highlighted protests about the massacre. In October the state tried 25 blacks and 10 whites on charges related to the massacre, including homicide and incitement to riot.

Malcolm McLaughlin's work presents a detailed analysis of the East St. Louis race riot in 1917, offering new insights into the construction of white identity and racism. He illuminates the "world of East St Louis", life in its factories and neighborhoods, its popular culture, and City Hall politics, to place the race riot in the context of the city's urban development.

A searing portrait of the racial dynamics that lie inescapably at the heart of our nation, told through the turbulent history of the city of St. Louis. From Lewis and Clark's 1804 expedition to the 2014 uprising in Ferguson, American history has been made in St. Louis. And as Walter Johnson shows in this searing book, the city exemplifies how imperialism, racism, and capitalism have persistently entwined to corrupt the nation's past. St. Louis was a staging post for Indian removal and imperial expansion, and its wealth grew on the backs of its poor black residents, from slavery through redlining and urban renewal. But it was once also America's most radical city, home to anti-capitalist immigrants, the Civil War's first general emancipation, and the nation's first general strike—a legacy of resistance that endures. A blistering history of a city's rise and decline, The Broken Heart of America will forever change how we think about the United States.

Days before the tumultuous presidential election of 1868, St. Bernard Parish descended into chaos. As African American men gained the right to vote, white Democrats of the parish feared losing their majority. Armed groups mobilized to suppress these recently emancipated voters in the hopes of regaining a way of life turned upside down by the Civil War and Reconstruction. Freedpeople were dragged from their homes and murdered in cold blood. Many fled to the cane fields to hide from their attackers. The reported number of those killed varies from 35 to 135. The tragedy was hidden, but implications reverberated throughout the South and lingered for generations. Author and historian Chris Dier reveals the horrifying true story behind the St. Bernard Parish Massacre.

St Louis played a key role as a strategic staging ground for the Union Army in the American Civil War. This is a portrait of a war-torn city, encompassing a wide range of events such as the murder of publisher Elijah Lovejoy, the infamous Dred Scott saga, battles in the city, and more.