Wilmington's lie : the murderous coup of 1898 and the rise of white supremacy

Resource Information

The work Wilmington's lie : the murderous coup of 1898 and the rise of white supremacy represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Manchester City Library. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Wilmington's lie : the murderous coup of 1898 and the rise of white supremacy

Title remainder

the murderous coup of 1898 and the rise of white supremacy

Statement of responsibility

David Zucchino

Creator

• Zucchino, David

Author

• Zucchino, David

Subject

• African Americans -- Civil rights -- North Carolina | Wilmington -- History -- 19th century
• History
• North Carolina -- Wilmington
• Politics and government
• Race relations
• White supremacy movements
• 1800-1899
• Wilmington (N.C.) -- Politics and government -- 19th century
• Wilmington (N.C.) -- Race relations | History -- 19th century
• Wilmington Race Riot (North Carolina : 1898)
• Wilmington Race Riot, Wilmington, N.C., 1898
• White supremacy movements -- North Carolina | Wilmington -- History -- 19th century
• African Americans -- Civil rights

Genre

• History

Language

eng

Summary

"By 1898 Wilmington, North Carolina, was a shining example of a mixed-race community-a bustling port city with a thriving African American middle class and a government made up of Republicans and Populists, including black alderman, police officers, and magistrates. But across the state-and the South-white supremacist Democrats were working to reverse the advances made by former slaves and their progeny. They were plotting to take back the state legislature in the November 8th election and then use a controversial editorial published by black newspaper editor Alexander Manly to trigger a "race riot" to overthrow the elected government in Wilmington. With a coordinated campaign of intimidation and violence, the Democrats sharply curtailed the black vote and stuffed ballot boxes to steal the 1898 mid-term election. Two days later, more than 2,000 heavily armed white nightriders known as Red Shirts swarmed through Wilmington, terrorizing women and children and shooting at least sixty black men dead in the streets. The rebels forced city officials and leading black citizens to flee at gun point while hundreds of local African Americans took refuge in nearby swamps and forests. This brutal insurrection is the only violent overthrow of an elected government in U.S. history. It halted gains made by blacks and restored racism as official government policy, cementing white rule for another seventy years. It was not a "race riot" as the events of November 1898 came to be known, but rather a racially-motivated rebellion launched by white supremacists. In Wilmington's Lie, David Zucchino uses contemporary newspaper reports, diaries, letters, and official communications to create a gripping narrative that weaves together individual stories of hate, fear, and brutality. This is a dramatic and definitive account of a remarkable but forgotten chapter of American history"--

Assigning source

Provided by publisher

Cataloging source

NcU/DLC

Dewey number

305.8009756/2709034

Illustrations

• illustrations
• maps

Index

index present

LC call number

F264.W7

LC item number

Z83 2020

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography