History is usually written by the winners. That's a cliché because it's true. But in the case of the American coup: Wilmington 1898, the "winners" didn't just write the history—they buried the crime scene under a century of textbooks that called a massacre a "race riot."
It wasn't a riot.
It was a coordinated, armed overthrow of a legally elected government on American soil. Honestly, if you didn't learn about this in high school, you aren't alone. For decades, the narrative was twisted to make the victims look like the aggressors. But when you look at the raw data, the primary sources, and the sheer scale of the violence, the truth is much uglier. It’s the only successful coup d'état in United States history.
The Powder Keg in North Carolina
By 1898, Wilmington wasn't some backwater. It was North Carolina’s largest city. It was a buzzing port, a hub of Black enterprise, and—most importantly—a place where the "Fusion" movement was actually working.
Fusion was a weird political marriage. You had the Populist Party (mostly white farmers) teaming up with the Republican Party (mostly Black men). They beat the Democrats. They took control of the city government. They were appointing Black police officers and magistrates. For the white supremacist Democratic Party of the 1890s, this wasn't just a political defeat. It was an existential threat.
They called it "Negro Domination." It was a lie, obviously. Black people didn't "dominate" the city; they just participated in it. They owned a huge chunk of the businesses. Alex Manly ran The Daily Record, which was basically the only Black daily newspaper in the whole country at the time.
The white elite, led by men like Alfred Moore Waddell and Furnifold Simmons, decided the ballot box wasn't enough. They needed a "White Supremacy Campaign." They used the media. They used cartoons. They used fear.
The Role of the Media
Josephus Daniels, the editor of the News & Observer, was a primary architect. He flooded his paper with propaganda. We’re talking about fake stories of Black men attacking white women—the classic, horrific trope used to justify lynching.
It worked.
The rhetoric reached a fever pitch when Alex Manly wrote an editorial in The Daily Record challenging these narratives. He pointed out the uncomfortable truth about consensual relationships between white women and Black men. The white community exploded. It was the "justification" the conspirators were waiting for. They didn't just want Manly's head; they wanted the whole system burned down.
November 10: The Day of the American Coup: Wilmington 1898
The election happened on November 8. The Democrats won through massive fraud and intimidation. They blocked Black voters with armed "Red Shirts"—basically the paramilitary wing of the party.
But winning the election wasn't enough for them. They wanted the Fusionist city government out now, even though their terms weren't up.
On the morning of November 10, Alfred Moore Waddell led a mob of about 2,000 armed men to the Knights of Pythias Hall. They were looking for Manly. He’d already fled, tipped off that he was a dead man if he stayed. So, they did the next best thing in their eyes: they burned the newspaper office to the ground.
The Violence Escalates
The fire was just the starter pistol. The mob swelled. They moved into Black neighborhoods like Brooklyn. They brought a Colt machine gun. Think about that for a second. A rapid-fire military weapon used against civilians in a coastal American city.
The official death toll was listed as 25.
Historians like LeRae Umfleet, who did massive research for the 2006 state report, say it was likely dozens, maybe hundreds more. Bodies were dumped in the Cape Fear River. People fled into the pine swamps in the middle of a cold November night. Mothers hid with infants while their houses were riddled with bullets.
💡 You might also like: I-65 Traffic Alert: What Really Happened With the Accident on 65 Today
While the killing was happening, the political coup was being finalized at City Hall.
Waddell and his "Secret Nine" forced the mayor and the board of aldermen to resign at gunpoint. One by one, the legally elected officials "resigned," and the conspirators replaced them. By the time the sun went down, Waddell was the new mayor.
The federal government? They did nothing. President William McKinley was notified, but he didn't send troops to restore the legitimate government. He stayed silent. That silence sent a message that echoed across the South for the next 70 years: the 14th and 15th Amendments didn't apply if you had enough guns and a loud enough printing press.
Why This Wasn't Just a "Bad Day"
The aftermath was arguably worse than the day itself. This wasn't a flash-in-the-pan moment of anger. It was a blueprint.
After the American coup: Wilmington 1898, the victors went to work codifying their power. They passed the first Jim Crow laws in North Carolina. They effectively disenfranchised Black voters for generations. In 1896, there were over 125,000 registered Black voters in North Carolina. By 1902, that number was about 6,000.
The middle class that Black Wilmingtonians had built—the doctors, the lawyers, the tailors—they left. They had to. If you stayed, you lived under the thumb of the men who had just murdered your neighbors. This "Great Flight" gutted the economic heart of the Black community in the South.
The Long Memory of the Cape Fear
For a long time, the white residents of Wilmington talked about it as a "restoration of order." They even put up markers. It was celebrated.
But the Black community remembered. They carried the trauma in whispers. It wasn't until the centennial in 1998 that the city really started to look at the bones in the closet. The 1898 Wilmington Race Riot Commission was formed, and their 2006 report is probably the most definitive account of what happened. It shifted the language from "riot" to "insurrection" and "coup."
Lessons and Red Flags
So, what do we actually do with this? History isn't just for trivia; it's a diagnostic tool.
First, we have to recognize that the American coup: Wilmington 1898 happened because of a failure of institutions. The local police were part of the mob. The state militia was part of the mob. The federal government looked the other way. When the guardrails fail simultaneously, democracy is just a piece of paper.
Second, look at the role of disinformation. The 1898 coup was fueled by a hyper-partisan media that cared more about power than reality. They created a boogeyman, convinced the public it was an existential threat, and then presented violence as the only "rational" solution.
Modern Parallels and Realities
We often think of progress as a straight line. Wilmington proves it’s a jagged one. In 1897, Wilmington was arguably more integrated and progressive than it would be in 1950. That’s a terrifying thought—that a society can actually go backward.
If you want to understand why the racial wealth gap looks the way it does in the South, you have to look at 1898. When you burn down a newspaper, seize property, and chase the educated professional class out of town, you aren't just hurting people in the moment. You're stealing the inheritance of their grandchildren.
Actionable Steps for the Curious
If you’re just hearing about this, don't just take my word for it. The deeper you dig, the more complex and tragic it gets.
- Read the 1898 Commission Report: It’s a long, heavy read, but it’s the gold standard. It uses property records and military logs to piece together the timeline. You can find the summary online through the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
- Visit the 1898 Memorial in Wilmington: It’s located at North 3rd and Davis Streets. It’s a somber place, but it’s one of the few spots where the city finally says the names of those who were lost.
- Support Local Archives: The Cape Fear Museum and the New Hanover County Public Library have incredible digital collections. Look at the photos of the burnt-out Daily Record office. Look at the faces of the "Red Shirts."
- Scrutinize Historical Markers: Next time you see a plaque about a "civil disturbance," ask who wrote it. Check the date it was installed. Often, these markers are relics of the very people who wanted the truth hidden.
The American coup: Wilmington 1898 isn't just a "Black history" story. It's an American history story. It’s a reminder that democracy is fragile and that "it can't happen here" is a phrase usually uttered right before it happens. Understanding Wilmington is about understanding the mechanics of power and the cost of silence. We can't fix what we don't acknowledge.