Minden, like most Southern towns, had a very complicated political history during the years of Reconstruction.
Initially, after the war, the newly returned former Confederate Democrats returned to local control, but after the passage of the Reconstruction Acts and the Louisiana Constitution of 1868, power passed to the carpetbagger government in New Orleans. At first the former Confederates were largely disenfranchised, but after the institution of the Amnesty Oath, they returned to the voting rolls. Parish elections were held, but the returns were strictly controlled and monitored by the state government’s Returning Board, while all municipal officers were appointed.
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