1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:06,080 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday, Everybody. Today's Classic is the second part of 2 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: our two parter on the Wilmington's q OF, which we 3 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: are bringing out of the archive following a requests from 4 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: several listeners. If you haven't heard last Saturday's Classic, it 5 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:19,480 Speaker 1: really does have a lot of context for the events 6 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:23,159 Speaker 1: that are discussed in this episode. The second part of 7 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: the two parter came out on January Welcome to Stuff 8 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: You Missed in History Class, a production of I Heart Radio. Hello, 9 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and 10 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry. Today's we are returning to the story 11 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:52,520 Speaker 1: of the Wilmington's q OF and Part one of this episode, 12 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: which aired on Monday, had a lot of the social 13 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: and political framework for this and while the basic chronology 14 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: of the election in Wilmington's and what happened afterwards like 15 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:06,320 Speaker 1: that will make sense without part one, there's a lot 16 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: of context in part one, and we're also going to 17 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: be referring back to things that we talked about in 18 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,120 Speaker 1: part one, so much better to listen to that one 19 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: if you have not already. In eight Wilmington's, North Carolina, 20 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: was the state's largest city with a population of about 21 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:27,400 Speaker 1: twenty thousand. It was also majority black, with a sizeable 22 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:31,399 Speaker 1: black working class and a significant black middle class, with 23 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: numerous black owned businesses as well, and more than of 24 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: the city's restaurants were owned and run by black residents, 25 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 1: along with virtually all of the barbershops. The city also 26 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: had an all black Board of Health, to black fire 27 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: departments and multiple black police officers. And although they weren't 28 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: nearly as well funded as the schools for white students, 29 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: so there were still some disparities there, It's schools for 30 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: black students were really well respected within the community thanks 31 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: to Wilmington's busy port, joh were plentiful, and all this 32 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: together made Wilmington's an attractive place for black residents to live. 33 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: It became a really popular destination for people immigrating from 34 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: elsewhere in the state, as well as from South Carolina. 35 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:17,080 Speaker 1: Numerous accounts described race relations in Wilmington's in the years 36 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: leading up to the riot that we're talking about as 37 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: quote pretty good as long as white Democrats stayed in 38 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 1: charge of the local government. It would be more accurate 39 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,799 Speaker 1: to say that there wasn't much racist violence in Wilmington's 40 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: as long as Democrats stayed in charge. As we discussed 41 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: in Part one, Democrats in the state capital of Raleigh 42 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: actively kept Republicans and black citizens out of office in 43 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: Wilmington's So race relations may have been good by the 44 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: definition of not violent, but Wilmington's didn't have home rule. 45 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:51,959 Speaker 1: The party in charge actively opposed the civil rights of 46 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: the majority of its citizens, and those citizens had no 47 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: way to remove that party from office. He had the 48 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: whole concept of race relations. It's kind of fraught because 49 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,399 Speaker 1: a lot of people use it to mean like our 50 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: our minorities keeping quiet, like how much how much uh, 51 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 1: how much of a fuss is being raised? Like? And 52 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: that while there wasn't a bunch of fuss, there also 53 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 1: was not self government by Wilmington's city in terms of 54 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 1: its city government. All of this, with the so called 55 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: good race relations, relations shifted after the March municipal election 56 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: that we talked about in our previous episode, which had 57 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: been pretty contentious and then led to three competing boards 58 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: of aldermen, all claiming to be the real one. And 59 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: then after that the race relations were no longer good. 60 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: In fact, white Democrats were planning a conspiracy to overthrow 61 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: the government that was elected on March. While this campaign 62 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: was focused on removing Wilmington's duly elected government and replacing it, 63 00:03:57,600 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: it also had a secondary goal, which is to make 64 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: an example of Wilmington's in order to keep the rest 65 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: of North Carolina's black population in line. It is not 66 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: clear exactly when the plan to do this was hatched. 67 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: Later on, Thomas W. Clawson, who was editor of the 68 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: Wilmington's Messenger and was involved with the coupe, said that 69 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: white citizens of Wilmington's had started formulating a plan six 70 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: to twelve months ahead of the election. A group of 71 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: nine white citizens were the ringleaders and became known as 72 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 1: the Secret Nine. They were J. Allen Taylor, Hardy Fennel, W. A. Johnson, LB. Sasser, 73 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: William Gilchrist, Pierre B. Manning, Edward S. Lathrop, Walter Parsley, 74 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: Hugh McCrae. Also involved in the conspiracy, where the Democratic 75 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,600 Speaker 1: Party Campaign Committee of New Hanover County, the Wilmington's Chamber 76 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 1: of Commerce, and another informal group known as the Group 77 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:01,359 Speaker 1: of Six. A lot of people involved. One of the 78 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: most visible players in the conspiracy was Alfred Moore Waddell, 79 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: who we quoted at the end of part one. What 80 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: l had been a Confederate officer during the Civil War, 81 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,600 Speaker 1: and he had served in Congress from eighteen seventy one 82 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: to eighteen seventy nine. After being defeated in the eighteen 83 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: seventy eight election, he had remained active in the Democratic 84 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: Party and he spent some time out of the state 85 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,480 Speaker 1: campaigning on behalf of Democratic candidates. He returned to Wilmington's 86 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty three, ostensibly to practice law, but by 87 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight he was unemployed, so during this time 88 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: he really devoted his energies to the party. He became 89 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 1: a fiery and compelling speaker who had a knack for 90 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:46,040 Speaker 1: stoking racist fears among whites. The Wilmington's coup of eighteen 91 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 1: ninety eight was part of the coordinated statewide white supremacy 92 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:54,040 Speaker 1: campaign that we talked about in Part one. Democrats used 93 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: that campaign to set the stage for what they were 94 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: planning in Wilmington's, aggravating white citizens racial and aimosity as 95 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: much as possible, and Wilmington's specifically. As part of this campaign, 96 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,039 Speaker 1: members of the state's Democratic leadership visited the city and 97 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: they started establishing white supremacy clubs, encouraging all white men 98 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: to publicly announce their membership in these clubs. The clubs 99 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:20,359 Speaker 1: operated under the banner of the White Government Union. The 100 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: White Government Union also organized a racist labor movement in 101 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: the city. This labor movement stated purpose was to replace 102 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,040 Speaker 1: black labor within the city with white labor, and this 103 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: project was endorsed by Wilmington's Chamber of Commerce. Another aspect 104 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: of the white supremacy campaign was essentially a show of force. 105 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 1: The Red Shirts were the Democratic Party's intimidation and terrorism wing. 106 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 1: They marched in parades all across the state, often leading 107 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: groups of attractive white women to symbolically show that their 108 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: role was to protect white feminine virtue. They also served 109 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:58,599 Speaker 1: as an honor guard for political leaders when they held 110 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:02,400 Speaker 1: rallies and gave speech is But it wasn't just marching 111 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 1: and guarding. The Red Shirts also terrorized black citizens, fired 112 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: weapons into people's homes, and forcibly broke up meetings and 113 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: rallies of Republican and Fusionist politicians. They threatened black voters 114 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: away from polls, and they threatened fusion political leaders to 115 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: try to intimidate them out of office. At one point, 116 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: they even robbed the train of Republican governor Daniel L. Russell. 117 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: The Red Shirts were active in other states as well, 118 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,679 Speaker 1: and they had a major presence in Wilmington's. And of course, 119 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: anytime a black person reacted angrily or violently to being harassed, threatened, 120 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: or otherwise abused by the Red Shirts or anyone else 121 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: in Wilmington's, white supremacists used that as evidence that Negro 122 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: rule of the city needed to be put down. Meanwhile, 123 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: in most quarters of the white community, the Red Shirts 124 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: were praised for their ongoing violent harassment of black people 125 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: and their white allies. I want to clarify that Negro 126 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: rule here, like they made it sound like black people 127 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: had just taken over the government totally. Black people were 128 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: still a significant minority in the government. Like that, the 129 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: government of Wilmington's did not reflect the racial demographics of 130 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: the city itself, which was majority black. Like the city 131 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: government was still majority white. But they had this whole 132 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: scare lore campaign of like Negro rule and how awful 133 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:29,680 Speaker 1: it was the ultimate focus for this campaign. And Wilmington's 134 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 1: was election day of eight, so there were only a 135 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: few races that were being voted on that day. They 136 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: were all statewide and national elections. Wilmington's municipal elections. Like 137 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: we said last time, they were to be held every 138 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: two years. That wasn't for another year, but Democrats were 139 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: not willing to wait until the municipal election to retake 140 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: control of the city. So this election, although it was 141 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: not from municipal offices, was the opportunity they took to 142 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:03,560 Speaker 1: do that. By election day of eight, pretty much all 143 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 1: of Wilmington's white citizens knew what was coming. The Democratic 144 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 1: Party's white supremacy campaign was extremely public. That had been 145 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,080 Speaker 1: going on for months, and although it wasn't nearly so overt, 146 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: word of the coup had been spreading among white citizenry 147 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: as well. Black and white residents alike expected some kind 148 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 1: of violence. Hoping that sober men would have cooler heads, 149 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,559 Speaker 1: The Board of Aldermen ordered the city's saloons to close 150 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:34,440 Speaker 1: around election day. Rumors also started to spread that Wilmington's 151 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: black population was planning some kind of a violent resistance 152 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: on election day. The Democratic campaign committee hired a black 153 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 1: detective to investigate these rumors. He concluded that there was 154 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,960 Speaker 1: nothing to them but to Pinkerton agents said that they 155 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: had found servants who were planning to burn down their 156 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:55,199 Speaker 1: employers houses if the Democrats won. Rumors that the black 157 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 1: community might turn to arson may have stemmed from the 158 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 1: fact that they didn't really have access to fire arms 159 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: to use for their own defense. Black residents in Wilmington's 160 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 1: who did try to buy a gun ahead of election 161 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:10,199 Speaker 1: day had little success. The only people in town who 162 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 1: sold guns were white, and since they already knew what 163 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: was happening, they refused to sell guns to black people. 164 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: So the only weapons in the hands of Wilmington's black 165 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:23,440 Speaker 1: residents were a few old muskets and pistols, mostly belonging 166 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: to men who had served in the Civil War after 167 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: the Union started accepting black soldiers back in eighteen sixty three. Conversely, 168 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: white Democrats were definitely armed, they were definitely planning for violence, 169 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 1: so they were raising a lot of fears that the 170 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 1: black community was set doing something that they definitely were doing. 171 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: Aside from people's personal firearms and other weapons, the white 172 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:51,120 Speaker 1: citizenry had access to the Wilmington's Light Infantry armory. City 173 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 1: business leaders had also spent twelve hundred dollars on a 174 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: Gatling gun. Armed patrols were organized for every black at 175 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:00,720 Speaker 1: the city on election day, with the Red Shirts and 176 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: others being stationed outside of polling places to warn Black 177 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:08,160 Speaker 1: voters away. The Red Shirts also encouraged and quotation marks 178 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:10,959 Speaker 1: white voters who were ambivalent to get at them vote. 179 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: They basically come to your house and be like, dude, 180 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 1: your voting now, I have a gun if you don't 181 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 1: really want to do it. White Democrats also made real 182 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: and explicit calls for violence. The night before the election, 183 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:29,440 Speaker 1: Alfred Moore Waddell spoke at a rally and proclaimed quote, 184 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 1: you are Anglo Saxons. You are armed and prepared, and 185 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: you will do your duty. Be ready at a moment's notice. 186 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: Go to the polls tomorrow, and if you find the 187 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: negro out voting, tell him to leave the polls, and 188 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 1: if he refuses, kill him, shoot him down in his tracks. 189 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:49,320 Speaker 1: We shall win tomorrow if we have to do it 190 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: with guns. Within the Black community, advice on what to 191 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: do in the face of all this was really mixed. 192 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 1: Some leaders and clergy advised people to stay home for 193 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: the of keeping the peace, while others insisted that they 194 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 1: take a stand by exercising their right to vote. Women 195 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: in North Carolina could not vote, and a coalition of 196 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,319 Speaker 1: black women published a piece in the Wilmington Daily Record 197 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,120 Speaker 1: urging black men to get out to the polls and vote. 198 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:18,680 Speaker 1: So we're gonna talk about election day after we first pause, 199 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: have a breather, and a little sponsor break. Election day 200 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: was November eight, and the day itself came with plenty 201 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 1: of rumors and fear, but not a lot of actual violence. 202 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:42,040 Speaker 1: In the final count, Democrats gained more than eleven thousand 203 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: votes over the previous election. Some of this game came 204 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,040 Speaker 1: from low turnout among black voters due to intimidation and threats, 205 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:52,760 Speaker 1: including employers who threatened to fire any black person who voted, 206 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: but some of it was due to fraud. For example, 207 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: the First Words fifth Precinct had three hundred forty three 208 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 1: total registered voters, three hundred thirteen of whom were black, 209 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:08,840 Speaker 1: but six hundred and seven votes were counted four hundred 210 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: and fifty six for Democrats. This was in a precinct that, 211 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: according to registrar Abram Fulton, there were no black Democrats. 212 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:19,680 Speaker 1: The count in this precinct was also interrupted when a 213 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:23,920 Speaker 1: crowd of men described as strangers showed up and put 214 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: out all the lights. Yet once, uh once, the people 215 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,960 Speaker 1: who have been counting votes got back inside, one of 216 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 1: whom went home because he was terrified. Uh Like, obviously 217 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 1: the votes had been tampered with, So like the there 218 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: were way more votes cast than people in the precinct, 219 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:45,080 Speaker 1: and specifically way more votes for Democrats. Then there were 220 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 1: black registered voters who were overwhelmingly Republican. So that's kind 221 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 1: of stuff that was going on. On November nine, the 222 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: Wilmington's Messenger published the election returns that morning, along with 223 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 1: a notice that ran under the heading Attention White Men. 224 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:04,040 Speaker 1: This notice summoned white men to the Wilmington's court House 225 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,320 Speaker 1: at eleven o'clock that morning. A large group gathered there 226 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:12,000 Speaker 1: as instructed, and Alfred Waddell read a document known as 227 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,200 Speaker 1: the White Declaration of Independence. Sometimes you will see it 228 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:18,479 Speaker 1: as the White Men's or the white Man's Declaration of Independence. 229 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: This document had been drafted by the secret nine has 230 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: a component of their cup. This White Declaration of Independence 231 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,680 Speaker 1: began quote believing that the Constitution of the United States 232 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: contemplated a government to be carried on by an enlightened people, 233 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: believing that its framers did not anticipate the enfranchisement of 234 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: an ignorant population of African origin, and believing that those 235 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:43,840 Speaker 1: men of the state of North Carolina who joined informing 236 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: the union did not contemplate for their descendants subjection to 237 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: an inferior race. We the undersigned citizens of the City 238 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:55,240 Speaker 1: of Wilmington's and County of New Hanover, do hereby declare 239 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 1: that we will no longer be ruled and we will 240 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: never again be ruled by men of African origin. This 241 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 1: document went on to outline a series of points boiling 242 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 1: down to the idea that white citizens should not and 243 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,720 Speaker 1: would not be subject to a black government. This last 244 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 1: point specifically condemned Alex Manly's editorial that had run in 245 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 1: the Wilmington's Daily Record that was printed earlier that year. 246 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 1: We talked about that a lot. In part one. It 247 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,640 Speaker 1: said that the paper itself should cease operations, and that 248 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,360 Speaker 1: Manly should be banished, and that the press should be 249 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 1: packed up and shipped away. What l and the rest 250 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 1: of the men then established a committee known as the 251 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,400 Speaker 1: Committee of twenty five to make sure these points were 252 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 1: carried out. Their first step was to summon thirty two 253 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: of Wilmington's most prominent black citizens, known as the Committee 254 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: of Colored Citizens or c c C. They instructed the 255 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:49,360 Speaker 1: c c C to appear at the courthouse at six 256 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 1: pm that night. When the c c C arrived that evening, 257 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: what L read them the White Declaration of Independence and 258 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: told them that they had until seven thirty the following 259 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 1: morning to go to Alex Manly, shut down his newspaper 260 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 1: and expel him from the city. The c c C 261 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,480 Speaker 1: retired to a nearby barbershop that one of them owned 262 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: to figure out what to do. They ultimately wrote up 263 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:16,120 Speaker 1: a reply saying that they did not condone Manly's editorial, 264 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,840 Speaker 1: calling it obnoxious. This wasn't a new sentiment within the 265 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:24,480 Speaker 1: black community. After that editorial was published, multiple black leaders 266 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,160 Speaker 1: and clergy had told Manly that he should retract it, 267 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 1: and they had criticized it as deliberately inflammatory. The c 268 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: c C response went on to say that it wasn't 269 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: within their authority to do what was being asked of them, 270 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: but that in the interest of the piece, they would try. 271 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: Armand Scott was tasked with hand delivering the CCC's response 272 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: back to what L, but as he was on his 273 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 1: way to make his hand delivery, he ran into a 274 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: large group of armed white men who were blocking his path, 275 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: so he took it to the post office to be 276 00:16:55,640 --> 00:17:00,040 Speaker 1: delivered instead. Also, there's some some discrepancy about what this 277 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 1: letter actually said. Scott stated later on that the letter 278 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:07,160 Speaker 1: that was eventually reprinted in the papers, which is what 279 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:11,360 Speaker 1: we just summarized, was not what he was delivering. By 280 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: the time the c c C met Alex Manly had 281 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 1: already left town due to the threats on his life. 282 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: So Scott said that this letter had made it clear 283 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 1: that Manly was already gone and that the record hadn't 284 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 1: been published for two weeks. Other members of the CCC 285 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: crossed paths with George Rowntree that evening, who was another 286 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,600 Speaker 1: member of the Committee of twenty five. They let him 287 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: know that Manly was gone and that the press was 288 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: shut down. But Roundtree did not go to the Committee 289 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:40,840 Speaker 1: of twenty five meeting the next morning, and neither did 290 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 1: anyone else who had heard that Manly had already left town. 291 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:48,920 Speaker 1: So when Alfred Waddell had not gotten a response from 292 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 1: the CCC by seven thirty the next morning, he assumed 293 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:56,159 Speaker 1: that they just weren't answering his demands. He went to 294 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,280 Speaker 1: the Wilmington's Light Infantry Armory, where he found a mob 295 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:03,200 Speaker 1: of about five hundred white men already gathered there by 296 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 1: eight fifteen. They were getting restless, and when he told 297 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:08,359 Speaker 1: them that he had not gotten a response from the 298 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 1: Committee of Colored Citizens, they started discussing who should lead 299 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: a march to the offices of the Wilmington's Daily News. 300 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:20,199 Speaker 1: The Wilmington's Light Infantry was on hand that day, but 301 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: officers couldn't lead a civilian mob to a business in 302 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: order to burn it down. They could only get involved 303 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: through direct order from the governor or if the situation 304 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:34,760 Speaker 1: became violent. Eventually, Waddell offered to take the lead. By 305 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: then the mob had swelled to between a thousand and 306 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:41,680 Speaker 1: fidd men. They marched to Love and Charity Hall, and 307 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:45,120 Speaker 1: they pounded on the door, but since Manly had already left, 308 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:47,680 Speaker 1: they didn't get an answer. So the mob broke down 309 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:49,959 Speaker 1: the door. They destroyed as much of the office as 310 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:54,120 Speaker 1: they could. They shattered the office's kerosene lamps, and then 311 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:58,720 Speaker 1: they set it on fire. Although some people did try 312 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:02,159 Speaker 1: to extinguish blowing cinders that spread from Love and Charity 313 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:06,080 Speaker 1: Hall to neighboring buildings, The fire chief kept the fire 314 00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:09,119 Speaker 1: department from fighting the fire until it was clear that 315 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:13,240 Speaker 1: the building was damaged. Beyond all repair. Once an all 316 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:16,359 Speaker 1: black fire crew was finally allowed to approach the fire, 317 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:19,880 Speaker 1: they had to fight it while surrounded by armed, angry 318 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:25,280 Speaker 1: white men who harassed and threatened them the entire time. Meanwhile, 319 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,639 Speaker 1: Colonel Walker Taylor of the Wilmington Light Infantry sent a 320 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:32,359 Speaker 1: telegram to the governor which read quote situation here serious. 321 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: I hold military awaiting your prompt orders. After the mob 322 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: that had burned down Love and Charity Hall returned to 323 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:42,959 Speaker 1: the armory, Alfred Waddell claimed he dismissed them to go 324 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,800 Speaker 1: back to their homes they had done what they set 325 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:49,160 Speaker 1: out to do. However, he made that claim as part 326 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:51,600 Speaker 1: of an article in which he described the events that 327 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,960 Speaker 1: followed as having been carried out with the utmost restraint, 328 00:19:55,080 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: and this was of course far from the truth. So 329 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: after the after this mob went back to the Infantry armory, 330 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:10,760 Speaker 1: a small group of armed black men started to gather 331 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,480 Speaker 1: not far away. Rumors started to spread that they were 332 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:17,640 Speaker 1: planning some kind of counter attack, so the white mob 333 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:21,119 Speaker 1: moved to intercept them. This led to a brief standoff, 334 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 1: and at some point it is really not clear by 335 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: whom a shot was fired. More shots followed, and then 336 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 1: things really came to a head when a white man 337 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 1: named William Mayo was struck with a life threatening injury, 338 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:37,920 Speaker 1: and this sparked a riot that spread through Wilmington's, which 339 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 1: we were going to talk about it in more detail 340 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:53,320 Speaker 1: after we first have a sponsor break. So on November, 341 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 1: after William Mayo had been shot, a heavily armed white 342 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: mob started moving through Wilmington's, terrorizing and murdering the black population. 343 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: Word of what was happening spread through the city and 344 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:10,840 Speaker 1: then beyond via telegraph. Other cities, including those as far 345 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:14,200 Speaker 1: away as Atlanta and New Orleans, started offering the aid 346 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:16,160 Speaker 1: of their own troops to Wilmington's, and to be clear, 347 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:19,000 Speaker 1: these troops were being offered to assist the white mob, 348 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:23,440 Speaker 1: not to protect the black citizens. When the governor replied 349 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 1: to Colonel Taylor's telegram, his instructions were to use Wilmington 350 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: Light infantry troops to preserve the peace. The city's riot 351 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: alarm was sounded, which was a signal to the Red 352 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 1: Shirts and other paramilitary groups to mobilize. All of these 353 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: armed men moved in on the predominantly black neighborhood of Brooklyn. 354 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,880 Speaker 1: In addition to the gatling gun that we mentioned earlier. 355 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,359 Speaker 1: A second machine gun unit was deployed by naval reserves. 356 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 1: The mob that progressed through the neighborhood of Brooklyn was 357 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,440 Speaker 1: made up of white civilians, the Wilmington's Light Infantry, the 358 00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:00,280 Speaker 1: Red Shirts, and others, and they made violent, terrifying prog us. 359 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,000 Speaker 1: The machine gun units aimed into black churches, which had 360 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,200 Speaker 1: been rumored as secret hiding places for armories, which they 361 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 1: were not. Black women were strip searched on the street, 362 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:15,720 Speaker 1: supposedly under suspicion of having been carrying weapons. The civilian 363 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:20,160 Speaker 1: mob and military and paramilitary units fired indiscriminately into homes, 364 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:23,959 Speaker 1: and they killed black citizens who resisted. At one point, 365 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: the Red Shirts started a man hunt for Daniel Wright, 366 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:29,640 Speaker 1: who was accused of having fired the shot that hit 367 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:33,119 Speaker 1: William Mayo. Right took up a position in his attic 368 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:36,880 Speaker 1: and fired at the Red Shirts before being captured, temporarily 369 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,240 Speaker 1: tied to a light post, and then released and told 370 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 1: to run while the white mobs shot him repeatedly. They 371 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,640 Speaker 1: left him lying in the street, and someone took him 372 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,920 Speaker 1: to the hospital. More than an hour later. He died. 373 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:53,680 Speaker 1: The next day, the governor dispatched more troops to Wilmington's 374 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: that did not stop the violence. Though these troops had 375 00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: a lot of the same idea as the Wilmington Light 376 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:01,119 Speaker 1: Infantry and turned terms of how to keep the peace, 377 00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:04,920 Speaker 1: it's not by protecting the black population. Word of the 378 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,520 Speaker 1: situation also made its way to Washington, d C. However, 379 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:12,639 Speaker 1: President McKinley didn't dispatch federal troops because there wasn't an 380 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:16,680 Speaker 1: official request from the governor. Later, he would get multiple 381 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 1: letters from Wilmington's black residents asking for help, but he 382 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 1: did not intervene since the governor reported that the situation 383 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 1: was under control. Has this mob moved through Wilmington's, many 384 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:32,160 Speaker 1: of its black population fled. They took refuge and swamps 385 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:35,359 Speaker 1: and a cemetery outside of town. At first, most of 386 00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:38,080 Speaker 1: the refugees were women and children, and men joined them 387 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:40,720 Speaker 1: later as they were able to escape from the city. 388 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: Those who fled into the swamps mostly stayed there without food, shelter, 389 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,720 Speaker 1: or warm clothing through the nights of November tenth and eleventh. 390 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,439 Speaker 1: Even though Wilmington's is a coastal city, this was not 391 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 1: a warm experience. It was cold and damp, and they 392 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:58,400 Speaker 1: had nothing to eat and nowhere to take cover. Meanwhile, 393 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,920 Speaker 1: Wilmington's white political goal and business leaders got to work 394 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 1: on their coup deata. George Rowntree and W. H. Chadburne 395 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 1: were both a big part of this, although many other 396 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: men were involved as well. They encouraged the mayor, his staff, 397 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 1: the non Democrats on the Board of Aldermen, and the 398 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:20,960 Speaker 1: chief of Police to resign. Fusionist government leaders and their 399 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,879 Speaker 1: supporters were forcibly run out of town, sometimes at gunpoint 400 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 1: or under threat of death. The Committee of twenty five 401 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,360 Speaker 1: then went to city Hall to elect replacements for all 402 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: the people they had just housted. They voted on them 403 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,959 Speaker 1: to like maintain this this illusion that this was an 404 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 1: elected body, and their replacements for the Board of Aldermen 405 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,840 Speaker 1: were an all white group of Democrats, who then elected 406 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:51,120 Speaker 1: elected Alfred Morowaddell as the mayor. The newly instituted city 407 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 1: government then put together a list of prominent black citizens 408 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,440 Speaker 1: who should be run out of town, including the entirety 409 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,480 Speaker 1: of the c c C. A few people were allowed 410 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 1: to stay a they quote knew their place, and some 411 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 1: were placed under arrest, reportedly for their own safety. The 412 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: final death toll of this riot isn't clear. The coroner 413 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: held fourteen inquests, all of which were ruled as having 414 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:19,719 Speaker 1: died from gunshot wounds inflicted by parties. Unknown estimates are 415 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,800 Speaker 1: as high as one hundred black citizens killed, with many 416 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: more injured. A few white men were injured, one critically 417 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:32,240 Speaker 1: none were killed. Aside from those who were killed or wounded, 418 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: more than two thousand black citizens left Wilmington's in the 419 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:40,120 Speaker 1: wake of the riot and coup. Prominent white Republicans left 420 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: as well, and soon the city had lost its black majority. 421 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:46,960 Speaker 1: The Republican Party lost its support in both Wilmington's and 422 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:50,160 Speaker 1: elsewhere in North Carolina, with its white members being branded 423 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 1: as race traders. The riot and coup affected Wilmington's black 424 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,879 Speaker 1: community in a number of ways in addition to the death's, injuries, 425 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,119 Speaker 1: and trauma. For the most part, black property owners in 426 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:04,960 Speaker 1: Wilmington's were able to keep their property after the riot 427 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:09,840 Speaker 1: and coup, but black business owners disproportionately lost their businesses. 428 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,600 Speaker 1: In Before the riot, there had been two hundred sixteen 429 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:18,639 Speaker 1: black owned businesses and seven hundred eighty nine white owned 430 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:23,560 Speaker 1: businesses in the Wilmington's City directory. In the nineteen hundred directory, 431 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 1: there were only one hundred sixty two black owned businesses 432 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 1: a decrease of Meanwhile, the number of white owned businesses 433 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:37,640 Speaker 1: dropped by only two percent. Also, Wilmington's working class Black residents, 434 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,160 Speaker 1: who either chose to stay or didn't have the means 435 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 1: to go, were increasingly shuttled into lower status and lower 436 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 1: paying jobs. One of the refrains of the white supremacy 437 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,960 Speaker 1: campaign that had been going on throughout North Carolina had 438 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:56,920 Speaker 1: been returning jobs to white citizens and these newly vacated jobs, 439 00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 1: as as black citizens were moved into less advantageous jobs. 440 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: Newly vacated jobs were indeed filled by white workers, but 441 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 1: employers had been paying black employees much less than they 442 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:13,639 Speaker 1: would typically pay a white person. The pay did not 443 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:17,960 Speaker 1: increase when the race of the workers changed. After the 444 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:21,320 Speaker 1: riot was over, the response among the black community within 445 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: an outside of Wilmington's was divided about how to live 446 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:27,880 Speaker 1: in light of what had just happened. In Wilmington's Many 447 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,199 Speaker 1: church leaders took to the pulpit to advise compliance and 448 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:35,320 Speaker 1: appeasement for the sake of just keeping the peace. Outside 449 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:38,320 Speaker 1: the state, the incident provoked outrage among black civic and 450 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 1: political leaders. A number of meetings and demonstrations protested what 451 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:45,760 Speaker 1: had happened and proposed ways to try to prevent a 452 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:51,120 Speaker 1: future recurrence, but these efforts were lampoon and criticized among 453 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:54,960 Speaker 1: white democratic presses, in some cases turning into even more 454 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 1: fuel for more racist propaganda. It was clear to the 455 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 1: black community that anything other than total deference and appeasement 456 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:05,240 Speaker 1: was just going to be met with more violence, so ultimately, 457 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:08,600 Speaker 1: efforts at resistance and the immediate aftermath of this riot 458 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:13,359 Speaker 1: fell apart. The riot received favorable coverage in the white 459 00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:17,040 Speaker 1: press overwhelmingly. I mean, of course, there were there were detractors, 460 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: but for the most part this this was viewed as 461 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: like a necessary retaking of Wilmington's Robert Bunting, a federally 462 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:28,639 Speaker 1: appointed commissioner, reported in Washington that he had been forcibly 463 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 1: removed from office and run out of the city. In response, 464 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 1: the U. S. Attorney General told the U. S. Attorney 465 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 1: for the Eastern District of North Carolina to investigate, and 466 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,440 Speaker 1: while the U. S. Attorney said he would, he never 467 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,760 Speaker 1: did himming and hawing about it until the federal government 468 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 1: just dropped the issue. The matter was closed in nineteen 469 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:51,520 Speaker 1: hundred with no indictments or arrests. No one was ever 470 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 1: prosecuted for their role in the riot or the coup. 471 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,440 Speaker 1: After the coup, Wilmington's new government rewrote the city charter 472 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: again to legitimize their positions. Then they all ran for 473 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 1: re election in eighteen nine and one, with the Republican 474 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 1: Party offering no opposing candidates. The Wilmington's coup and the 475 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: white supremacy campaign leading up to it affected politics throughout 476 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:19,040 Speaker 1: North Carolina. As the Democratic Party had hoped, after what 477 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 1: happened in Wilmington's it wasn't necessary to do the same 478 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:25,800 Speaker 1: thing elsewhere in the state. Democrats regained control of the 479 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:30,640 Speaker 1: state's General Assembly. Afterward, North Carolina passed a suffrage amendment 480 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:36,000 Speaker 1: to the constitution. This amendment required literacy tests and poll taxes, 481 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:40,720 Speaker 1: but it included a grandfather clause, exempting anyone descended from 482 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:44,000 Speaker 1: someone who was eligible to vote in eighteen sixty seven. 483 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,680 Speaker 1: This meant that the new requirements applied almost exclusively to 484 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,080 Speaker 1: black people who did not have the right to vote 485 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:54,760 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty seven. This law actually remained in place 486 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: until the civil rights movements. Democrats and the General Assembly 487 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 1: also rolled back the Fusion government's most progressive progressive election laws, 488 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:08,080 Speaker 1: and on March sixth, the General Assembly ratified quote an 489 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,360 Speaker 1: Act to Restore Good Government to the Counties of North Carolina, 490 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:15,040 Speaker 1: which once again gave legislators in Raleigh control of the 491 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:18,640 Speaker 1: local government of thirteen cities. These cities were all either 492 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: majority black or close to it. Together. All of this 493 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:27,160 Speaker 1: once again solidified Democrats power in North Carolina even beyond 494 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:30,040 Speaker 1: what it had been before the success of the Fusion Coalition. 495 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:34,800 Speaker 1: When Democrat Charles Acock, who had actively participated in the 496 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:38,920 Speaker 1: White Supremacy campaign, was elected governor in nine hundred, the 497 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:42,040 Speaker 1: party had control of both houses of the state legislature 498 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:46,560 Speaker 1: and the governorship. North Carolina essentially had a one party 499 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:51,560 Speaker 1: government for decades afterward. After it was all over. The 500 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 1: riot was generally something that black residents of North Carolina, 501 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 1: especially in Wilmington's, heard about from parents, grandparents, and peers. 502 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: Two black writers also published works of historical fiction about it, 503 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:07,680 Speaker 1: really in those early years afterwards. One was nineteen hundreds 504 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 1: Hanover or The Persecution of the Lowly Story of the 505 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,040 Speaker 1: Wilmington Massacre by David Bryan Fulton, who was writing under 506 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 1: the pseudonym Jack Thorne. The other was Charles wood l 507 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:20,560 Speaker 1: That's a different Woodell the other was Charles wood l 508 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:26,760 Speaker 1: One the Marrow of Tradition. But the riot mostly disappeared 509 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:30,480 Speaker 1: from white collective memory for decades. It was not part 510 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:33,440 Speaker 1: of North Carolina history classes, and when it did come up, 511 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 1: it was mostly described as a race riot, and in 512 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 1: some cases it was praised. That started to change in 513 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 1: with the publication of Philip Girard's novel Cape Fear Rising. Yeah, 514 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:49,360 Speaker 1: I graduated from North Carolina Public schools in this was 515 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:51,160 Speaker 1: not a thing I ever heard about in a North 516 00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 1: Carolina classroom. Ever, It's also not a thing that I 517 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:58,680 Speaker 1: heard about in college, although I did not have like 518 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:02,560 Speaker 1: North Carolina history classes college. So in two thousand, not 519 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:05,880 Speaker 1: long after the centennial of this riot, the North Carolina 520 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:10,000 Speaker 1: General Assembly enacted legislation to create a commission to investigate 521 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:14,520 Speaker 1: its followed similar investigations into Tells the riot in the 522 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:18,360 Speaker 1: nine Rosewood Massacre, both of which have been the subject 523 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:23,160 Speaker 1: of previous episodes. The North Carolina Commission used the investigations 524 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,400 Speaker 1: into these incidents as a model, so the commission's purpose 525 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: was to both develop a historical record of the incident 526 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,480 Speaker 1: and to determine its impact on North Carolina's black population. 527 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 1: The investigations findings were released in a more than four 528 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 1: hundred page report in two thousand and six, and the 529 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:42,960 Speaker 1: findings are clear that it was an armed overthrow of 530 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:46,560 Speaker 1: a duly elected municipal government, that it was an organized 531 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:49,560 Speaker 1: conspiracy and not a spur of the moment act of violence, 532 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,920 Speaker 1: and that quote involved in the conspiracy were men prominent 533 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:58,800 Speaker 1: in the Democratic Party, former Confederate officers, former office holders, 534 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:03,800 Speaker 1: and newspaper editors locally and statewide. Rallied by Josephus Daniels 535 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:08,280 Speaker 1: of the Raleigh News and Observer. The investigation also noted 536 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 1: the role of Alex Manley's editorial that we talked about 537 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 1: in part one, which was responding to Rebecca Latimer Felton's speech, 538 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:17,800 Speaker 1: but they pointed out that this coup would have taken 539 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:21,400 Speaker 1: place even without that involvement. After all, the coup was 540 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:24,360 Speaker 1: being planned six to twelve months before election day, which 541 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:28,480 Speaker 1: was well before that editorial was ever published. The commission 542 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,480 Speaker 1: also made connections between the eight ninety eight riot and 543 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:34,680 Speaker 1: coup and later incidents of violence in Wilmington's in the 544 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:39,000 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies. It framed this more recent violence as quote 545 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:44,400 Speaker 1: directly related to unresolved conflicts of the Commission also made 546 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:50,800 Speaker 1: recommendations for empowerment, economic redevelopment, education, and commemoration. In two 547 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:53,280 Speaker 1: thousand and six, the same year as the Commission released 548 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,360 Speaker 1: its findings, the Raleigh News and Observer and the Charlotte 549 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:59,120 Speaker 1: Observer each apologized for their role in the violence and 550 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:01,640 Speaker 1: the coup, and as part of this, the two papers 551 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 1: co published a twelve page special report on the riot, 552 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:09,319 Speaker 1: which was distributed as a special section of both of them. 553 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:13,560 Speaker 1: The North Carolina Democratic Party apologized a year later. The 554 00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:17,080 Speaker 1: General Assembly passed a resolution acknowledging the Act in two 555 00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:19,600 Speaker 1: thousand seven as well, which had been part of the 556 00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:23,880 Speaker 1: Commission's recommendations. However, it took some effort to get that 557 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 1: acknowledgement through the General Assembly. A bill titled eighteen ninety 558 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:32,120 Speaker 1: eight Wilmington's Race Riot Acknowledgement was filed in March of 559 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:35,720 Speaker 1: two thousand seven and was ultimately blocked, at least according 560 00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:40,000 Speaker 1: to news reports, because Republican legislators wanted it to include 561 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,080 Speaker 1: the fact that white Republican legislators had been working with 562 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:47,120 Speaker 1: black citizens and had opposed the riot. Yeah A lot 563 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:50,799 Speaker 1: of the discussion in news media of this riot within 564 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:56,760 Speaker 1: the last like five years has basically been to try 565 00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:03,560 Speaker 1: to to criticize the Demo rats by current sitting Republican leaders, which, 566 00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:07,719 Speaker 1: as we've talked about on the podcast before, like it's 567 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,440 Speaker 1: it's it's great that the Democratic Party apologized for this. 568 00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:14,680 Speaker 1: When it comes to your voting decisions, you have to 569 00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:16,480 Speaker 1: vote a based on what the party is doing right now, 570 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:21,560 Speaker 1: not on what the party was doing a hundred years ago, 571 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: like political parties have totally. We've talked about that before. Yeah, 572 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:30,040 Speaker 1: we've talked about the way the platforms have shifted and 573 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:33,640 Speaker 1: and in some ways they traded places on their positions, um, 574 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:36,080 Speaker 1: which is important to remember, and I think sometimes that 575 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:39,920 Speaker 1: gets excluded purposely to try to frame things in a 576 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:44,279 Speaker 1: more positive light. Yeah so, yeah, but that was a 577 00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:47,799 Speaker 1: lot of times that shift of platform gets kind of 578 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:52,120 Speaker 1: oversimplified as like a light switch that got turned. But 579 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:55,839 Speaker 1: like every political party in the country has been continually 580 00:35:55,880 --> 00:36:03,200 Speaker 1: revising it's it's platforms since they've existed. Back to wrapping 581 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:07,520 Speaker 1: up this story, So after that whole thing when it 582 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:10,080 Speaker 1: got derailed because apparently people wanted to talk about how 583 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:14,680 Speaker 1: the Republicans helped a Senate joint resolution acknowledging the eight 584 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,799 Speaker 1: ninety eight events was introduced on July thirty one of 585 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:21,279 Speaker 1: that year and then ultimately ratified on August two. But 586 00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:24,840 Speaker 1: this joint resolution is a lot milder in its language 587 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:27,920 Speaker 1: than the original bill was. It leaves out things from 588 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:31,840 Speaker 1: the original bill, like the words white supremacy, as well 589 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:34,480 Speaker 1: as the earlier bill's acknowledgement that it was quote a 590 00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:38,080 Speaker 1: conspiracy of a white elite that used intimidation and force. 591 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:43,920 Speaker 1: Also removed from what eventually was ratified was quote government 592 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:46,960 Speaker 1: at all levels failed to protect its citizens, which was 593 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:53,840 Speaker 1: replaced with the much less UH firm quote government was 594 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:58,960 Speaker 1: unsuccessful in protecting its citizens during that time. In more 595 00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:03,520 Speaker 1: recent updates, the state's Highway Historical Marker Committee approved a 596 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:06,720 Speaker 1: plaque that will be installed in March of two thousand eighteen, 597 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:09,200 Speaker 1: so in just a couple of months. UH. This plaque 598 00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:11,719 Speaker 1: will be placed at Market Street between Fourth Street and 599 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:14,120 Speaker 1: Fifth Street, which is the site of the old Armory 600 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:19,400 Speaker 1: building and in a busy part of Wilmington's downtown. There 601 00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:23,000 Speaker 1: have been slash our other markers and memorials, but that 602 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:25,799 Speaker 1: one is the most recent one and also the one 603 00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:30,040 Speaker 1: that clearly frames that as having been a coup that 604 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:38,960 Speaker 1: involved burning down this newspaper. Fay so much for joining 605 00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:41,799 Speaker 1: us on this Saturday. Since this episode is out of 606 00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:43,759 Speaker 1: the archive. If you heard an email address or a 607 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 1: Facebook U r L or something similar over the course 608 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,480 Speaker 1: of the show, that could be obsolete now. Our current 609 00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:54,799 Speaker 1: email address is History Podcast at i heart radio dot com. 610 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:58,000 Speaker 1: Our old house stuff works email address no longer works, 611 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:00,560 Speaker 1: and you can find us all over social media at 612 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:03,800 Speaker 1: missed in History. And you can subscribe to our show 613 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:07,319 Speaker 1: on Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts, the I heart Radio app, 614 00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:13,680 Speaker 1: and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Stuff you Missed 615 00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:16,160 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 616 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:19,360 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 617 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:22,480 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 618 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:23,200 Speaker 1: favorite shows.