In November 1898, on the heels of the state Democratic Party's white supremacy campaign, violence broke out in Wilmington. A white mob burned the offices of a Black newspaper and killed at least twenty-five African Americans. The white supremacists then overthrew the elected Republican government of the city and installed a white Democratic mayor and council in its place. Many elected officials from across the state were involved in, or supported, this instance of white supremacist violence. In this chapter, we'll examine first-hand accounts of the Wilmington Coup -- the only ever successful coup d'état on U.S. soil -- and its aftermath. We'll also evaluate the "suffrage amendment" of 1899 that effectively barred blacks from voting in North Carolina.
Section Contents
- Primary Source: The Wilmington Record Editorial
- Primary Source: The Democrats Appeal to Voters
- The Wilmington Coup
- Primary Source: The "Revolutionary Mayor" of Wilmington
- Primary Source: Letter from an African American Citizen of Wilmington to the President
- Primary Source: J. Allen Kirk on the 1898 Wilmington Coup
- Primary Source: The Suffrage Amendment
- Voter Registration Cards
- Primary Source: Governor Aycock on "The Negro Problem"
- Wilmington Massacre November 1898
