The Custom House Conspiracy

The Custom House Conspiracy is a historical biography of the life and mysterious death of Oscar James Dunn. It was written by Michael A. Radcliff (March 2009). The opening scene of the novel begins with the infamous “New Orleans Riot of 1866”. The fight for suffrage planned primarily by northern Carpetbaggers and southern Scalawags encouraged a group of Free Coloreds and former slaves to hold an illegal Constitutional Convention to give themselves the right to vote. The planned retribution meted out by the deposed Confederate politicos and citizenry was swift and fatal. The national outcry resulting from this and other similar massacres around the country brought about a period in U.S. political history known as the “Reconstruction” period. A period in which for a time, the former rebels would virtually be stripped of their citizenship, resulting in the “Free Coloreds” and former slaves becoming the new electorate.
Overview
The Custom House Conspiracy focuses on the ascension of Oscar James Dunn, the first African-American elected Lieutenant Governor in the United States, and the first African American to serve as Governor. The Custom House Conspiracy shows that Lt. Governor Dunn served as “acting” Governor when then governor Henry Clay Warmoth was seriously injured in a boating accident resulting in him being incapacitated for a period of nearly four months. This was three times longer and nearly a year before PBS Pinchback would serve as Governor.
Viewed by many as the only honest politician during his tenure, Dunn soon found himself at odds with the openly corrupt Governor Henry Clay Warmoth and his crony, then Senator PBS Pinchback. The bitter fight and power struggle which ensued would virtually fragment the Louisiana Republican Party into two groups; the “Dunnites”, those supporting the Lieutenant Governor, and the “Warmothites”, or those supporting the Governor. After Dunn was nominated to preside over the Republican Party’s state convention of 1870 (an open insult to Warmoth), and was able to appoint a number of his friends to the Republican State Executive Committee, an all out war began within the party ranks - the culmination of which would have Dunn and his friends firmly taking control of the Party Convention (Gatling Gun Convention) the following year, gaining control of the Party leadership, and expelling Governor Warmoth from the Republican Party.
After having defeated the Governor and his cronies and acquiring President Ulysses S. Grant‘s support, Dunn was now in prime position to be the Party’s nominee for Governor the following year - yet within a matter of weeks of the coup, Lieutenant Governor Dunn would die mysteriously.
Commentary
The Custom House Conspiracy provides historical evidence to show that contrary to common belief, Oscar James Dunn (not PBS Pinchback) was in fact the 1st African American to serve as Governor in the United States.
"Radcliff unearths the legacy of one of the most influential African American leaders of the 19th Century. Buried in time, denied his rightful place in history, Oscar James Dunn was the first African American to serve as Governor in the United States".
"Most notable in Radcliff's offering is the now undeniable fact that Oscar James Dunn and not P.B.S. Pinchback, was indeed the first African American to serve as Governor in the United States".

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