Charles Caldwell (politician)

Charles Caldwell in 1874

Charles Caldwell (1830 or 1831 – December 25, 1875) was a Reconstruction era political and state militia leader in Mississippi. He held office as a state senator and county commissioner before being assassinated in 1875.

Quotes about Caldwell

• The assassination of Caldwell is symbolic of the reign of terror that defeated Reconstruction, democracy, Black political participation, as well as human rights in Mississippi and the South in the mid-1870s. Violence was central to the establishment of White domination, not only to seize power for White supremacists but also to instill fear and intimidation in the Black population and their allies. In a state with a Black majority, to secure White supremacy and to maintain Black labor, particularly rural workers, as a servile labor force, it was necessary to institutionalize fear and intimidation. Men like Caldwell represented hope for Black progress and resistance to White domination.
  • Akinyele Umoja, We Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement. NYU Press. 22 August 2014. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4798-8603-6. 

External links

• His life is retold in the radio drama "The Story of 1875", a presentation from Destination Freedom

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