Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy

by David Zucchino

Wilmington might be preparing for a siege instead of an election. The citizens are armed and make no secret of that fact. There is a new Gatling gun in the local armory, and 2,000 Winchester rifles are said, on reliable authority, to be distributed among private residences. In each block of the city is a lieutenant, while every six blocks is in charge of a captain. Each block has its place of refuge already selected, to which the women and children can flee for safety when the race war breaks out. West provided a succinct summary of white intentions: “(1) The Negro must either be frightened away from the polls or else (2) he must be forcibly resisted when he undertook to deposit his ballot.”