Wilmington Insurrection of 1898
| Wilmington insurrection of 1898 | ||||||||
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| Part of Mass racial violence in the United States | ||||||||
 A photograph showing a group of rioters posing outside the ruins of the "Record" building |
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White residents
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African American residents
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Wilmington Light Infantry | ||||||
White residents
African American residents
The Wilmington insurrection of 1898, also known as the Wilmington massacre of 1898 or the Wilmington race riot of 1898, began in Wilmington, North Carolina on November 10, 1898 and continued for several days. It is considered a turning point in Post-Reconstruction North Carolina politics. The event marks an era of more severe racial segregation and effective disenfranchisement of African-Americans throughout the South, a shift already underway since passage by Mississippi of a new constitution in 1890 raising barriers to voter registration. Laura Edwards wrote in Democracy Betrayed (2000), "What happened in Wilmington became an affirmation of white supremacy not just in that one city, but in the South and in the nation as a whole."
Originally described by white Americans as a race riot caused by blacks, the events are classified by some as a coup d'etat; white Democratic Party insurgents overthrew the legitimately elected local government, expelling black leaders from the city. In addition, a mob of nearly 2,000 white men attacked the only black newspaper in the state, and persons and property in black neighborhoods, killing an estimated 15 to more than 60 victims, and destroying homes and businesses built up since the Civil War.
Two days after the election of a Fusionist white mayor and biracial city council, two-thirds of whose members were white, Democratic Party white supremacists seized power and overturned the elected government. Led by Alfred Waddell, who was defeated in 1878 as the congressional incumbent by Daniel L. Russell (elected a fusionist governor in 1896), more than 2,000 white men participated in an attack on the black newspaper, Daily Record, burning down the building. They ran officials and community leaders out of the city, and killed many blacks in widespread attacks, especially destroying the Brooklyn neighborhood. They took photographs of each other during the events. The Wilmington Light Infantry (WLI) and federal Naval Reserves, ordered to quell the riot, became involved with the rioters using rapid-fire weapons and killing several black men in the Brooklyn neighborhood. Both black and white residents later appealed for help after the coup to President William McKinley, but his administration did not respond, as Governor Russell had not requested aid. After the riot, more than 2,100 blacks left the city permanently, having to abandon their businesses and properties, resulting in the formerly black-majority city becoming white-majority. Among those who left were Alex and Frank G. Manly, brothers who had owned the Daily Record.
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