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We Have Taken A City: The Wilmington Racial Massacre and Coup of 1898
In 1898, Wilmington, North Carolina was the scene of what many describe as the only successful coup d' etat in the history of the United States, when angry whites overthrew the duly elected government and went on a rampage that tore through the African-American community of the state's largest city. The terror lasted several days, and saw Wilmington blacks gunned down in the streets, forced out of town, and disposessed of their property. In this reprint of a book first released in 1984, H. Leon Prather, Sr. presents the story of what happened in Wilmington. It is generally considered the most balanced account of the 1898 riots, and tells the story of what happened in a thoroughly researched book that has been hailed as a landmark resource on the subject. The State of North Carolina will issue its official report on what happened in Wilmington in 1898 in 2006, and Prather's book is a primary source for the official history that is soon to be released. Prather's book is a must-have for those interested in the history of African-Americans during Reconstruction, the history of the South, North Carolina, and the Lower Cape Fear region.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
228 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 17, 2016
Politics, the old cliche goes, “makes strange bedfellows." This can be seen in North Carolina politics of the late 1890s, when Republicans (not conservatives as their now known, but mostly African-American and carpetbaggers) joined with white yeomen farmers and workers to vote out the conservative politicians (who were Democrats at this point in history) to elect “fusion" candidates. This threatened the status quo, resulting in the conservatives playing the race card in order to split the fragile alliances and bring poor whites back into the fold of the Democratic Party and under the control of the conservative establishment. Within the rhetoric of the era, Wilmington, North Carolina's largest city at the time, and a town where blacks out-numbered whites, erupted in racial violence that left the African-American community in shambles and brought about an untold number of deaths. At the same time, the conservatives who were working behind the scenes used the events to bring about the only armed-coup in United States history, removing from office those who had been elected and replacing them with their own people.
In the late 19th Century, Wilmington, North Carolina had an African-American middle class. The community had their own newspaper, edited by Alex Manly, a mixed race man whose father had been the governor of the state right before the Civil War. Responding to a public speech by a Rebecca Felton, a Georgian who'd spoken out about the threat of rape that white women faced by black men and called for a campaign of lynching, Manly not only condemned such crimes by blacks, but extended it to white men abusing black women. He mentioned his own history, as his mother had served as a slave and mistress to a former governor of the state. Excerpts of Manly's editorial began to circulate and reappear in newspapers across the country, the fallout from it leading to the events of November 10th. On this day, a group of white “redshirts" marched on Manly's newspaper and burned the building down. Then, tension rose as a white man was shot, which provided an excuse for armed white men began to more into the black community where they faced minor resistance. A number of men were killed and most of the black leaders were rounded up and exiled from the city. Also exiled were a number of white leaders who'd participated in the fusion government that controlled the city's politics.
When the events were over, those who had means within the African-American community had left town and the white conservative establishment was firmly entrenched. Prather suggests that the number of deaths, while significant, have probably been exaggerated. No official count was made, but there was probably not near enough deaths to have turned the mighty Cape Fear River red with blood. His work suggests that the conservatives used the lower class whites to do their bidding in the riot, providing them with the excuse to step in and remove the mayor, city council and police from power. The haunting part of this story is the number of names still present within the community. One of the ironic twist is that the grandson of John Bellamy, one of the conspirators, was the Superintendent of Schools who desegregation of the schools in the city in the 1960s.
Prather sets the riot in historical context, comparing it with other race riots in American history. It's interesting that this riot came on the heels of "America's Splendid Little War," The Spanish American War. However, Prather doesn't see that playing a role even though he points out parallels to other wars and race riots. One area that I would have liked to have seen more study is in the role religion and faith played. Prather notes the doctrine of white supremacy was being proclaimed in the same pulpits that told Christ's story (102). But outside of mentioning four local clergy (the pastors of the Presbyterian, Baptist and Black Baptist Churches and the Catholic priest), Prather doesn't explore this thread further. However, two sources he draws upon were the Baptist and Presbyterian state newspapers, both of which supported the white revolt. The title, "We Have Taken a City" comes from the sermon by Peyton Hoge (Presbyterian) on the following Sunday, but nothing is said about the sermon and his source for the title came from a newspaper article.
The events in Wilmington have been portrayed in a couple of novels. Charles Chestnut, a black author from early in the 20th Century, wrote The Marrow of Tradition based on the Wilmington story. A more modern retelling of the story is Philip Gerard's "Cape Fear Rising". I recommend Gerard's story. He'd planned to write the book within the Creative Non-fiction genre, but because he wasn't sure of some of the events, changed it into a historical novel. Another great source of information that came out around the 100th anniversary of the event is "Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 and Its Legacy". This book is a collection of essays edited by David Cecelski and Timothy Tyson.
In the late 19th Century, Wilmington, North Carolina had an African-American middle class. The community had their own newspaper, edited by Alex Manly, a mixed race man whose father had been the governor of the state right before the Civil War. Responding to a public speech by a Rebecca Felton, a Georgian who'd spoken out about the threat of rape that white women faced by black men and called for a campaign of lynching, Manly not only condemned such crimes by blacks, but extended it to white men abusing black women. He mentioned his own history, as his mother had served as a slave and mistress to a former governor of the state. Excerpts of Manly's editorial began to circulate and reappear in newspapers across the country, the fallout from it leading to the events of November 10th. On this day, a group of white “redshirts" marched on Manly's newspaper and burned the building down. Then, tension rose as a white man was shot, which provided an excuse for armed white men began to more into the black community where they faced minor resistance. A number of men were killed and most of the black leaders were rounded up and exiled from the city. Also exiled were a number of white leaders who'd participated in the fusion government that controlled the city's politics.
When the events were over, those who had means within the African-American community had left town and the white conservative establishment was firmly entrenched. Prather suggests that the number of deaths, while significant, have probably been exaggerated. No official count was made, but there was probably not near enough deaths to have turned the mighty Cape Fear River red with blood. His work suggests that the conservatives used the lower class whites to do their bidding in the riot, providing them with the excuse to step in and remove the mayor, city council and police from power. The haunting part of this story is the number of names still present within the community. One of the ironic twist is that the grandson of John Bellamy, one of the conspirators, was the Superintendent of Schools who desegregation of the schools in the city in the 1960s.
Prather sets the riot in historical context, comparing it with other race riots in American history. It's interesting that this riot came on the heels of "America's Splendid Little War," The Spanish American War. However, Prather doesn't see that playing a role even though he points out parallels to other wars and race riots. One area that I would have liked to have seen more study is in the role religion and faith played. Prather notes the doctrine of white supremacy was being proclaimed in the same pulpits that told Christ's story (102). But outside of mentioning four local clergy (the pastors of the Presbyterian, Baptist and Black Baptist Churches and the Catholic priest), Prather doesn't explore this thread further. However, two sources he draws upon were the Baptist and Presbyterian state newspapers, both of which supported the white revolt. The title, "We Have Taken a City" comes from the sermon by Peyton Hoge (Presbyterian) on the following Sunday, but nothing is said about the sermon and his source for the title came from a newspaper article.
The events in Wilmington have been portrayed in a couple of novels. Charles Chestnut, a black author from early in the 20th Century, wrote The Marrow of Tradition based on the Wilmington story. A more modern retelling of the story is Philip Gerard's "Cape Fear Rising". I recommend Gerard's story. He'd planned to write the book within the Creative Non-fiction genre, but because he wasn't sure of some of the events, changed it into a historical novel. Another great source of information that came out around the 100th anniversary of the event is "Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 and Its Legacy". This book is a collection of essays edited by David Cecelski and Timothy Tyson.
February 12, 2021
This is a detailed account of the white supremacist deposition of the elected city government of Wilmington NC in 1998 and the ensuing violence against the majority black population. Reading it the context of the January 6 2021 assault on the Capitol and the sight of a confederate flag within the Capitol building is an object lesson in the continuing significance of the Civil war and the unfinished business of emancipation and equality in the US. The book is dated (published 1984) and it may be that a better starting point is David Zucchino's 2020 'Wilmington's Lie' - i've not read that yet. There are several other works on the topic. Read in conjunction with the excellent collection of essays 'Democracy Betrayed: the Wilmington Riot of 1898 and its Legacy' (eds. Cecelski and Tyson) Prather's book tells you all you need to know. It also has the virtue of being published by a regional publisher dedicated to the history of the Carolina's - see link https://dramtreebooks.weebly.com/abou...
and is also linked to the online publication Carolina Chronicles.
and is also linked to the online publication Carolina Chronicles.
December 20, 2019
Thorough! Not only did they take a city, they destroyed family wealth and power.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews