The racial violence was ignited by political and social racism following the American Civil War, in the early stages of Reconstruction.

Public attention following the riots and reports of the atrocities, together with the New Orleans massacre of 1866 in July, strengthened the case made by Radical Republicans in the U.S. Congress that more had to be done to protect freedmen in the Southern United States and grant them full rights as citizens.

The white planters wanted to drive freedmen out of Memphis and back to plantations, to support cotton cultivation with their labor.

After the capture of Memphis by Union forces in 1862 and occupation of the state, the city became a center for contraband camps and a haven for refugee slaves seeking protection from former masters.

[10] Unique among the states because of the long-term military occupation, during the war Tennessee created a kind of de facto Black Code, which depended on the complicity of police, lawyers, judges, jailers, etc.

In the early years of the occupation, the Union Army permitted civil government, while prohibiting known Confederate veterans from taking office.

[22] The report by the Freedmen's Bureau after the riot described the long "bitterness" between the black people and the "low whites," aggravated by some recent incidents between them.

[23] Having been told by the mayor and citizens of Memphis in 1866 that they could keep order, Major General George Stoneman had reduced his forces at Fort Pickering, and had only about 150 men assigned there.

There was competition between the military and local government as to who was in charge; after the war, the developing role of the Freedmen's Bureau added to the ambiguity.

[21] Through early 1866, there were numerous instances of threats and fighting between black soldiers going about the city, and white Memphis policemen, who were 90% Irish immigrants.

Officials of the Freedmen's Bureau reported that police arrested black soldiers for minor offenses and usually treated them brutally, in contrast to their treatment of white suspects.

"One historian described the composition of the police force as being like "taking a troop of lions to guard a herd of unruly cattle"(U.S. House 1866:143).

[5] In September 1865 Brigadier General John E. Smith banned "the public entertainments, balls, and parties heretofore frequently given by the colored people of this City."

Trouble was anticipated after most black Union troops (the Third United States Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment) were mustered out of the army on April 30, 1866.

The former soldiers had to remain in the city for several days while they waited to receive their discharge pay; the Army took back their weapons, but some of the men had gained private ones.

After taunting on both sides and a physical collision, a police officer hit a soldier in the head with a firearm, hard enough to break his weapon.

[30] On May 1, 1866, a large group of black soldiers, women, and children gathered in a public space, forming an impromptu street party.

[38] General George Stoneman was asked to use military force to restore order; he declined and suggested that Sheriff Winters create a posse.

[40] Finding no soldiers in the late evening, the white mob that had formed turned to attack various black homes in the area, looting and assaulting the people they found there.

[38] Police and firefighters made up one-third of the mob (24% and 10%, respectively, of the total group); they were joined by small business owners (28%), clerks (10%), artisans (10%) and city officials (4.5%).

[44] John Pendergast and his sons Michael and Patrick, reportedly played a key role in organizing the violence and used their grocery store at South St. & Causey St. as a base of operations.

Memphis Mayor John Park was suspiciously absent (said to be intoxicated);[23] General Runkle, head of the Freedmen's Bureau, had insufficient forces to help.

[23] General George Stoneman, the commander of federal occupation troops in Memphis, was indecisive in trying to suppress the early stages of the rioting.

[42] Tennessee Attorney General William Wallace, deputized to lead a posse of 40 men, allegedly encouraged them to kill and burn.

The Memphis riot was investigated by the Freedmen's Bureau, aided by the Army and the Tennessee Inspectors General, who gathered affidavits from those involved.

[23] In addition, there was an investigation and report by a Congressional committee, which reached Memphis on May 22 and interviewed 170 witnesses including Frances Thompson, gathering extensive oral histories from both black and white people.

[24] The outcome of the Memphis riot and a similar incident (the New Orleans massacre in July 1866) was to increase support for Radical Reconstruction.

The change in the political climate, catalyzed by the response to the race riots, ultimately enabled former slaves to obtain the full rights of citizenship.