The cause of the Battle of Liberty Place was the result of several years of the troubled Reconstruction period, the coerced adoption of the 14 th Amendment, and the stealing of elections and the injustices of the carpetbag regime forced upon Louisiana by the Federal authorities. In particular, the usurpation of the State government in 1873 by Governor William Pitt Kellog and his "Custom House gang" contributed significantly to the events that led up to the battle.