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Wilmington, North Carolina: A Flourishing Multiracial Society in the Late 1890s

Economic Prosperity and Industry: In the late 1890s, Wilmington was the largest city in North Carolina and served as a booming port city. * Historical Context: Founded on the edge of an 18th-century slave economy, it transitioned into an industrialized cotton production hub following the Civil War. * Infrastructure: New railroad lines transported cotton from inland regions to brick warehouses in the city. * Technological Advancement: Modern compressors produced cotton bales with unprecedented efficiency. * Alexander Sprunt & Son: This firm was the city's largest employer and the leading cotton exporter in the United States. * Labor Integration: In warehouses, docks, and lumberyards, white and Black laborers worked alongside one another in roles such as loaders, haulers, and stevedores.
Demographics and Black Middle Class: Wilmington was a majority-Black city, fostering a burgeoning Black-owned business sector. * Business Diversity: Local enterprises included barbershops, grocery stores, restaurants, butcher shops, doctor's offices, and a law firm. * Civic and Cultural Life: The city boasted a vibrant social scene with literary societies, public libraries, baseball leagues, and a Black-owned newspaper. * Religious Institutions: * St. Stephen A.M.E. Church: Known for its large congregation and central role in the community. * St. Mark's Episcopal Church: Frequently attended by the city's most affluent Black families.

The Fusion Coalition and the Rise of Multiracial Politics

Formation of the Fusion Movement: In the last decade of the 19th century, a new political alliance emerged as a catalyst for democratic change. * Populist Party: Comprised of disaffected poor white tenant farmers and sharecroppers who felt neglected by the wealthy merchant class dominating the Democratic Party. * Republican Party: Maintained strong support from African Americans. * The Alliance: Formed in $1893$ during a national economic depression, the "Fusion" ticket brought together Black and poor rural white voters.
Political Objectives: The biracial coalition sought to: * Expand public education. * Regulate powerful business monopolies. * Secure and shore up voting rights weakened since the end of Reconstruction.
Electoral Success: * In $1894$ , the Fusion ticket won a sweeping majority in the North Carolina state legislature. * In $1896$ , the coalition captured the governorship. * George Henry White: Elected to the House of Representatives in $1896$ , he was the only African American congressman in the country at the time.
Democratic Reforms: The Fusion-dominated legislature restored direct elections for local offices and passed what was considered the fairest and most democratic election law in the post-Reconstruction South. * Resulting Representation: Black Republicans and white populists won offices across the state. * Wilmington Representation: * Three Black aldermen were elected to the city council. * $10$ out of $21$ city policemen were Black. * $4$ out of $4$ deputy sheriffs were Black. * Black officials held roles as county treasurer, county jailer, county coroner, health inspectors, registrars of deeds, and superintendent of streets. * John Dancy: Served as the head of Wilmington’s federal customs office and was the highest-paid official in the state.

The White Supremacy Campaign and the Democratic Counterrevolution

Reaction of the White Establishment: The success of multiracial politics triggered a fierce backlash among those steeped in white supremacy norms.
Leadership of the Crusade: In $1898$ , prominent Democrats launched a violent campaign to restore white rule: * Furnifold Simmons: State party chairman. * Charles Brantley Aycock: Gubernatorial hopeful. * Josephus Daniels: Publisher of the Raleigh News & Observer.
Tactics of Intimidation: * Media Warfare: The News & Observer waged a relentless campaign of lies and hate, stoked fears of "Negro domination," and used racist cartoons and sensationalized reports. * Myth of Sexual Danger: Glenda Gilmore notes that historians identify the "hysteria" of unfounded accusations of "black-on-white" rape as a primary embodiment of the fear used to overturn the social order. * Alfred Moore Waddell: A Civil War veteran and charismatic orator who declared that the white people who settled the country should alone govern it. He famously threatened to "choke the Cape Fear with carcasses" rather than live under multiracial rule.
White Government Unions and Red Shirts: * Over $800$ White Government Union clubs were formed. * Red Shirts: Paramilitary militias backed by the Democratic Party that patrolled streets with Winchester rifles, beating and intimidating Black citizens. * Strategic Goal: One Democratic leader noted, "We cannot outnumber the negroes. And so we must either outcheat, outcount, or outshoot them."

The 1898 Wilmington Massacre and Coup d’État

The Stolen Election: On Election Day in $1898$ , Red Shirts and election "observers" used gunpoint intimidation to prevent Black citizens from voting. Democrats swept the state legislature, winning $98$ of $118$ seats.
The Violent Coup: Because city officials were not up for reelection until $1899$ , a mob enacted a violent overthrow on November $10$ , $1898$ . * The Attack: At least $500$ white supremacists marched through the streets, shooting bystanders and burning the city's only Black-owned newspaper. * Casualties: At least $22$ (and potentially up to $60$ ) Black residents were killed; over $2,000$ fled the city. * Forced Resignations: The mob entered City Hall and forced the mayor, police chief, and eight aldermen to resign at gunpoint. * New Leadership: Alfred Moore Waddell was installed as the new mayor.
Federal Inaction: Congressman George Henry White had personally warned President William McKinley of the impending violence, but McKinley chose not to intervene.
Long-term Fallout: * Registered Black voters in NC dropped from $126,000$ in $1896$ to $6,100$ in $1902$ . * Black turnout fell from $87\%$ in $1896$ to near zero by $1904$ . * No African American served on the Wilmington city council again until $1972$ .

The "Second Founding": Reconstruction and the Legal Foundation of Democracy

The Reconstruction Era: Historian Eric Foner describes this as America’s "Second Founding," or a "stunning and unprecedented experiment in interracial democracy."
Major Constitutional Amendments: * Thirteenth Amendment ( $1865$ ): Abolished slavery. * Fourteenth Amendment ( $1868$ ): Established birthright citizenship, due process, and equal protection under the law. * Fifteenth Amendment ( $1870$ ): Prohibited voting restrictions based on race.
Supporting Legislation: * Reconstruction Acts of $1867$ : Placed former Confederate states under military rule and made readmission conditional on guaranteeing Black suffrage. * Civil Rights Act of $1875$ : Guaranteed equal treatment in public places (streetcars, hotels, theaters).
The Partisan Divide: These reforms were achieved exclusively by the Republican Party. No Democrat in Congress voted for the $14$ th or $15$ th Amendments. * Radical Republicans: Led by Senator Charles Sumner (MA) and Congressman Thaddeus Stevens (PA), who were genuine racial egalitarians. * Philosophical Roots: Sumner argued in $1866$ that all men, Regardless of race, were "made in the image of God" and entitled to the same rights.

Radical Republicanism and the Influence of Black Activism

Intellectual Inheritance: Radical Republicans adopted ideas forged by Black activists and writers from the pre-Civil War era.
Boston-based Activism (1820s-1830s): * David Walker: A freeborn Black man from Wilmington who lived in Boston; wrote the Appeal to Colored Citizens of the World ( $1829$ ), which highlighted the hypocrisy of a white "Christian" republic. * Maria Stewart: The first American woman to give a political speech to a mixed audience. * The "Colored Citizen": These activists rejected the idea of returning to Africa, instead demanding full citizenship rights based on the Declaration of Independence.
Biracial Alliances: Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison (The Liberator) was influenced by Walker, and Charles Sumner frequently consulted with the Black community on Beacon Hill, advocating for the desegregation of Massachusetts public schools.

The Collapse of Reconstruction and the Rise of "Redemption"

Paramilitary Terror: White supremacists responded to multiracial democracy with a "terrorist campaign unparalleled in American history." * Groups: Ku Klux Klan (founded in Tennessee, early $1866$ ), Whitecaps, White Brotherhood, Jayhawkers, Pale Faces, and Knights of the White Camellia. * Violence: Thousands were killed, whipped, or raped; Republican politicians were assassinated.
The Enforcement Acts: President Ulysses S. Grant and Congress passed laws in $1870$ and $1871$ allowing federal oversight of elections and military intervention to combat the Klan. For a brief period (e.g., the $1872$ election), this significantly reduced violence.
The End of Reconstruction: * Political Division: The Republican Party split; "Liberal Republicans" prioritized free trade and civil service over Southern enforcement. * Economic Depression ( $1873$ ): Led to Democratic gains in the House in $1874$ . * Compromise of $1877$ : Rutherford B. Hayes withdrew remaining federal troops from the South, allowing Democrats to seize control in almost every Southern state. * Fatalities: Nearly $2,000$ Black Americans were murdered in the decade following the Civil War, a rate compared to Pinochet’s Chile.

The Transition to "Legal" Disenfranchisement

The Shift from Violence to Hardball: Fearing that flagrant violence would trigger renewed federal oversight, Southern Democrats turned to "legal" channels to undermine the $14$ th and $15$ th Amendments.
"Ingenious Contrivances": Explointing the $15$ th Amendment’s loophole (which only prohibited race-based restrictions), states adopted: * Poll Taxes: Fees that disproportionately affected Black citizens. * Literacy Tests: Administered with high discretion by white registrars. * Understanding Clauses: Required voters to interpret the Constitution to the registrar's satisfaction. * Grandfather Clauses: Exempted voters from requirements if they (or their ancestors) could vote before $1867$ , essentially protecting illiterate white voters. * The Australian (Secret) Ballot: Ended the practice of assisted voting, effectively disenfranchising illiterate citizens.
Impact: In Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, Black turnout plummeted from $61\%$ in $1880$ to approximately $2\%$ by $1912$ .

The Failure of Federal and Judicial Checks

The Lodge Bill (1890): Also known as the "Force Bill," drafted by Henry Cabot Lodge and George Frisbie Hoar, it was the most ambitious voting rights bill in U.S. history, allowing federal supervision of all congressional districts. * The Sabotage: Senator William Stewart (NV) and others traded their support for the election bill for Democratic support on silver-based currency reform. * The Filibuster: Democrats used the filibuster to kill the bill in January $1891$ . A proposal to end the filibuster with a simple majority was also blocked.
Giles v. Harris (1903): A pivotal Supreme Court case regarding Alabama's disenfranchising constitution. * The Plaintiff: Jackson Giles, representing $5,000$ Black citizens. * The Decision: Written by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (a Civil War veteran), the court refused to intervene. * Holmes’ Logic: He argued that if the registration system was truly fraudulent, the court could not add names to a fraudulent list, and that the court lacked the power to enforce its mandates without federal troops. * Result: This decision is seen as the "deathblow" to America's first experiment with multiracial democracy, leading to nearly a century of single-party authoritarian rule in the South.