8 NOV--This Day in US Military History

2014-11-09T20:57:53-05:00

1898 – The Wilmington Insurrection of 1898, the only instance of an attempted coup d’état in American history.

The Wilmington Coup d’Etat of 1898, also known as the Wilmington Massacre of 1898 or the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898, occurred in Wilmington, North Carolina starting on November 10, 1898 and continued for several days. It is considered a turning point in post-Reconstruction North Carolina politics. The event is credited as ushering in an era of severe racial segregation and disfranchisement throughout the South. 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 whites as a race riot (suggesting blacks were at fault), the events are now classified as a coup d’etat, as white Democratic insurgents overthrew the legitimately elected local government.
A mob of nearly 2000 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. Two days after the election of a Fusionist white mayor and biracial city council, two-thirds of which was white, Democratic Party white supremacists illegally 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 governor in 1896), more than 2000 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, 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, turning it from a black-majority to a white-majority city.

http://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/11/08/november-8/

November 8

8 November 1731 - Benjamin Franklin opened the 1st US library. The first circulating library in America, the Library Company of Philadelphia, was founded by Benjamin Franklin and others. 1830 - Oli...

Response by CPT Richard Riley made Nov 9 at 2014 9:01 PM

2014-11-09T21:01:06-05:00

Thank you for this history lesson. This was something I had not run across before.