Wilmington insurrection of 1898

The Wilmington insurrection of 1898, also known as the Wilmington massacre of 1898 or the Wilmington coup of 1898, happened in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Thursday, November 10, 1898. 

It is seen as a turning point in post-Reconstruction North Carolina politics. It caused more intense racial segregation of African Americans throughout the South. It made it harder for African-Americans to vote. 

The event was caused after many white supremacists took over the Wilmington city government which was controlled by both white and black men and killed the black alderman.James Loewen, "'Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 and Its Legacy' (review)", Southern Cultures, Volume 6, Number 3, Fall 2000, pp. 90-93 | 10.1353/scu.2000.0058, accessed July 30, 2014 After the event, no black politician was in charge in Wilmington.

It has been called a race riot caused by blacks by white newspapers at the time. However, over time, with more facts publicized, the event has come to be seen as a coup d'état, the violent overthrow of a duly elected government, by a group of white supremacists. It is seen as the only coup in American history. 

The coup happens with 2,000 white men. They destroyed the property and businesses of black citizens built up since the Civil War, including the only black newspaper in the city, and killed about 60 to more than 300 people.John DeSantis, "Wilmington, N.C., Revisits a Bloody 1898 Day", The New York Times, pp. 1 and 33, June 4, 2006, accessed August 23, 2012

References

Category:1898 in the United States
Category:African-American history