During three days of voting in April 1868, black men turned out en masse in Wilmington; one rode an ambulance to the polls a half hour after having a leg amputated. Statewide, the new constitution was approved by a comfortable margin: 93,086 to 74,086. The constitution guaranteed black men’s voting rights with no literacy or property restrictions. New Hanover County also voted in favor of the constitution, 3,568 to 2,235, thanks in large part to a vigorous turnout of new black voters.
