This is the story of the only successful overthrow of a domestic government in American history. Once generally referred to as a “riot,” the events of 1898 in Wilmington, North Carolina are now more widely understood to have been a massacre of its African American citizens, and the overthrow of an elected government.

One year earlier, North Carolina’s white supremacist Democratic Party embarked on a carefully orchestrated campaign to drive Fusion coalition politicians, some of whom were Black, out of office during the upcoming election. (At the time, Democrats were businessmen, well-off farmers, and former Confederates, whereas the biracial Fusion coalition contained Populist Party politicians—supported by small, struggling farmers—and Republicans, which represented most Black North Carolinians.) The white supremacy campaign utilized speeches, propaganda cartoons, and the threat of violence to create support for the coup d’état.  

On November 8, 1898, North Carolina’s Democrats used threats and intimidation to stop African Americans from voting. Pro-Democratic Party election officers tampered with the returns. Because of these tactics, Democrats swept the election. On November 10, 1898, two days after the contested election, a violent mob then took to the streets, and attacked African Americans, an unknown number of whom were killed. Local elected officials were forced to resign at gunpoint, and were replaced by white supremacist leaders. Other prominent people—white and Black—were “banished” from the city. Following the coup, many white newspapers throughout the country reported the incident as a “race riot” and suggested that Black citizens were the aggressors. No one was ever prosecuted for the violence. 

This timeline of the events of the Wilmington 1898 coup was drawn from an immersive map created by the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science. View the original version on their website.

 

Life After Emancipation, 1865-1870 

After the Civil War, the U.S. Congress passes three Constitutional Amendments that transform previously enslaved peoples’ legal status: The 13th Amendment abolishes slavery, “…except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” The 14th Amendment’s first clause grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized” in the U.S. and includes clauses designed to provide everyone with the same rights under the law.

The 15th Amendment declares “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

These amendments, and North Carolina's new state constitution, give newly-enfranchised Black men access to political power for the first time in their lifetimes.

The Rise of the State Democratic Party, 1870s and 1880s

After the promise of 1868 expands democracy in the state, things change in the 1870s. 

North Carolina's pro-Confederate Democratic Party gains power over the state government. Both white and Black Republicans continue to serve in elected offices in Wilmington and New Hanover County. But the General Assembly limits elections, and where they can, they appoint Democrats to office.  

North Carolina's Republicans and Populists Gain Power, beginning in 1894

White Democrats lose control of the North Carolina General Assembly in 1894 when a coalition of Populists and Republicans win power. This “fusion” government is more supportive of popular democracy, and works to pass policies that help ordinary people, rather than members of the elite.

Momentum continues to swing in the Fusionists' favor in 1896. Daniel L. Russell becomes Governor of North Carolina, the first Republican to win the governorship since the 1870s.

The White Supremacy Campaign, 1897 and 1898

A year before the 1898 election, the Democratic Executive Committee meets in Raleigh on November 20, 1897. The committee, under the leadership of Furnifold M. Simmons, issues a call to “reestablish Anglo Saxon rule and honest government in North Carolina."

State leaders make plans to create county-level White Government Union clubs. These government unions are designed to persuade white men to vote for white supremacist candidates in the November 1898 election.

The Raleigh News and Observer declares, “It is the plan of the leaders of the white party to organize a white Government Union to secure united white action by white men. It has no secrecy, grips or pass-words, and is designed to do nothing but promote the elevation of the white man.”

A White Supremacist Speech, August 11, 1897

Activist Mrs. Rebecca Felton gives a speech in Tybee Island, Georgia where she calls for the lynching of African American men to protect white women. In the speech, Felton declares “…if it needs lynching to protect woman’s dearest possession from the ravening human beast – then I say lynch; a thousand times a week if necessary.”

The Georgian white supremacist’s inflammatory speech receives widespread attention. Wilmington's newspapers reprint a version of her speech in August, 1898.

The Daily Record's Editorial Rebuttal, August 18, 1898

Wilmington's African American newspaper, The Daily Record, publishes an editorial that counters the claims that Mrs. Felton’s speech makes. The Daily Record editorial, which was likely written by the paper's editor Alexander Manly, suggests that some sexual relationships between white women and Black men were based on mutual consent. The editorial uses the words “fall in love” to characterize white women’s feelings towards Black men. This is an incendiary sentiment in an era where mixed-race marriages were illegal.

The Wilmington newspaper's editorial fuels white supremacists’ fears of consensual interracial relationships.

"A Horrid Slander," August 30, 1898

For months, the white-owned Wilmington Star reprints an article with the title “A Horrid Slander” that repeats the assertion that The Daily Record's editorial was an “infamous assault on the white women of this state.”

Alfred Moore Waddell Speaks at the Opera House (Thalian Hall), October 24, 1898

Speakers around the state give rabble-rousing speeches in support of the white supremacy campaign.  

In Wilmington, local lawyer, Democrat, and former Confederate officer Alfred Moore Waddell addresses a large crowd and declares “Negro domination shall henceforth be only a shameful memory to us, and an everlasting warning to those who shall ever again seek to revive it.” Waddell asserts he is willing to “choke the current of the Cape Fear with carcasses” if that is necessary to ensure white men once again rule the state.

Red Shirts and Rough Riders Meetings, October 26, 1898

Groups of armed men—some calling themselves Red Shirts, others Rough Riders—organize themselves in the city to further support white supremacy efforts. Many are also members of White Government Union clubs.

They meet and rally in support of white supremacy in Wilmington.

Election Day, November 8, 1898

On November 8, 1898, in a tense and corrupt election—involving threats and intimidation of Black voters and widespread vote tampering—Democratic candidates are declared victorious in the Republican city of Wilmington. 

The next day, November 9, The Wilmington Messenger says “Yesterday was a glorious day for white supremacy in New Hanover county.”

Meeting at the Court House, 11 AM, November 9, 1898

The election is not the end of the white supremacy campaign, however. On November 9, The Wilmington Messenger publishes a notice: “Attention White Men: There will be a meeting of the White Men of Wilmington this morning at 11 o’clock at the Court House. A full attendance is desired, as business in the furtherance of White Supremacy will be transacted.”

An estimated 1,000 people attend the meeting, including what the paper calls “…Wilmington’s very best citizens, including ministers, working men, lawyers, doctors, merchants and all classes of our people.”

The resolutions drafted at the meeting become known as the “White Declaration of Independence.” White Wilmingtonians assert whites should rule and demand that The Daily Record’s editor, Alexander Manly, leave town. Attendees declare, “We, the undersigned citizens of the city of Wilmington and the county of New Hanover, do hereby declare that we will no longer be ruled, and will never again be ruled by men of African origin.”

More than 450 white men sign the declaration.

The Committee of Colored Citizens Meets, Evening, November 9, 1898

A group of African American leaders are summoned to a meeting, and asked to respond to the White Declaration of Independence by 7:30 AM on November 10. The Committee of Colored Citizens drafts a reply at David Jacobs' barber shop.

Armond Scott, Evening, November 9, 1898

A young lawyer, Armond Scott, is supposed to deliver the Committee of Colored Citizens' reply to the demands in the White Declaration. Wilmington's streets are filled with armed white men. Fearing for his safety, Scott puts the reply in the mail, and does not deliver it in person.

White leaders claim the reply does not arrive at its destination in the proscribed amount of time.

A Crowd Gathers, Wilmington Light Infantry Building, 8 AM, November 10, 1898

On November 10, 1898, a crowd gathers. When the Committee of Colored Citizens’ response does not arrive, hundreds of armed white men march from the Wilmington Light Infantry’s armory on Market Street to The Daily Record’s office.

Burning The Daily Record Office, 9 AM, November 10, 1898

The mob ransacks The Daily Record office, which is located in the Love and Charity Hall, an African American community center. The crowd burns down the building.

Stand-off at Cotton Compress, between 9 AM and 11 AM, November 10, 1898

A standoff between Black workers and armed white men occurs at the Cotton Compress. The crowd disperses without violence.

Shooting Starts, 11 AM, November 10, 1898

At approximately 11 a.m., shots are fired at North Fourth and Harnett streets, starting a wave of deadly violence in the city. Witnesses disagree about who shot first, African Americans or whites.

At noon, more shooting occurs at the same spot.

Martial Law is Declared, November 10, 1898

Governor Russell puts Colonel Walker Taylor, an officer in the local branch of the state militia, in charge of troops and calls for him to “preserve the peace.” Wilmington is under martial law.

Wilmington Light Infantrymen shoot African Americans near the Fourth Street Bridge. As many as 25 people may have been killed.

Rapid-Fire Gun Crews, Afternoon, November 10, 1898

Crews of white militiamen point their rapid-fire guns at the city’s African American residences and places of worship.

During the day, one of the city’s rapid-fire guns is aimed at St. Stephen AME Church at Fifth and Red Cross streets.

An Estimate of the Dead, 1898

The State of North Carolina’s 1898 report lists the following dead:

Gray Bizzell, shot and died at home, 411 Harnett Street

John L. Gregory, killed on North Third Street, between Harnett and Swann streets

Sam Gregory

Josh Halsey, killed on Bladen Street near North Seventh Street

Charles Lindsey, killed at North Fourth and Harnett streets

Sam McFallon, died at the hospital

Sam McFarland, shot near the railroad tracks, died at the hospital

George Miller, died at the hospital

William Mouzon, among the first people killed, North Fourth and Harnett streets

Carter Peamon, killed as he was attempting to leave town

Tom Rowan, killed by the river on a wharf

John Townsend, among the first killed at North Fourth and Harnett streets

Daniel Wright, gunned down near his home, 810 North Third Street

And 9 unnamed dead

All of those who are known to have died were African American. This list is not comprehensive, and historians believe it to be a significant undercount of the numbers of people who died.

In the chaos of the day, hundreds of terrorized African Americans flee to the swamps and cemeteries around the city for safety.

A Change of Leadership, Wilmington City Hall, 4 PM, November 10, 1898

One by one, Republican and Populist city officials are forced to resign, sometimes at gunpoint. A slate of white Democratic Party members are put in their place. White supremacist campaigner Alfred Moore Waddell becomes mayor of the city in place of Republican Silas P. Wright.

The Banishment Begins, 7:15 PM, November 10, 1898

Deposed white deputy sheriff George Z. French and African American lawyer Armond Scott board the Northbound train, escaping the city with their lives.

The Banishment Continues, November 11, 1898

Black and white Republicans and Populists are forced to leave town.

African Americans including Thomas C. Miller, the richest Black man in town, and butcher Ari Bryant are forced to board trains and leave the city. 

At 3:30 in the afternoon, three white men—ousted police chief John R. Melton, United States commissioner Robert H. Bunting, and police officer Charles H. Gilbert—are forced to board a train to New Bern.

Mayor Silas Wright was banished the next day, November 12.

The Fire Department Purge, November 17, 1898

The White Declaration signers demand that white men be hired instead of African Americans. The Fire Department quickly moves to get rid of all the Black men who work in the department. As The Semi-Weekly Messenger put it, "Yesterday afternoon the new board of aldermen replaced the negroes in the department and substituted seventeen white men in their place.”

Black police officers are also fired from their jobs.

Leaving the City and County after 1898

African Americans leave the city in response to the massacre and coup. Local newspapers estimate that over 1,000 people left. Some go North, others go South, and some go to other parts of the county, the surrounding counties, and the state. 

According to the 1900 census, African Americans are in a slight majority in New Hanover County. But the actual number of Black county residents falls by more than 800 people between 1890 and 1900. In contrast, the white population increases by more than 2,500 in that decade.

A Disenfranchisement Amendment Passes, August 2, 1900

North Carolina’s General Assembly passes laws that segregate Blacks and whites. The legislature also takes some control over local government away from 13 Black-majority counties, including New Hanover County.

In 1899, the General Assembly puts forward a suffrage amendment that disenfranchises African American men who had gained the right to vote after the Civil War. The Amendment effectively eradicates the African American vote, and decreases the numbers of eligible white voters.

Decades Without Representation End, 1992

Over the first six decades of the 20th century, many of the restrictive provisions of the 1900 Suffrage Amendment like the grandfather clause, poll tax, and literacy tests, are repealed, or they become obsolete or unlawful.

African Americans go to the polls in increasing numbers, especially after 1965's Voting Rights Act passes. Nearly a century after the coup, North Carolina elects Eva Clayton to Congress, the first African American to hold national office from the state since 1901.

 

To learn more, please follow these links:

Cape Fear Museum's digitized Daily Record collection 

This Month in History on the Daily Record of October 20, 1898

Link to the Cape Fear Museum's “Highlighting History” page, which includes a video about the Daily Record and a pdf about the history of 1898

The State of North Carolina's 1898 Report