This Day in History: The Wilmington Insurrection

On November 10, 1898, Wilmington, North Carolina—a town with a thriving Black community and a rare, integrated government—was shaken by a violent coup.

White supremacists, infuriated by racist rhetoric and led by former Confederate Colonel Alfred Waddell, overthrew the city’s government in a brutal campaign of terror. By the end of the day, they had murdered as many as 60 Black residents, devastated the Black-owned newspaper’s office, and forcibly removed the elected leaders, seating white supremacists in their place.

This was the only successful coup d’état in U.S. history.

At the time of the insurrection, Wilmington was one of the South’s most integrated cities. Black leaders held significant roles: three of the 10 aldermen were Black and African Americans served as policemen, magistrates and firefighters. But as racial tensions heightened, the Democratic Party, which was associated with the Confederacy, seized the 1898 state elections, campaigning on a narrative to end “Negro domination.”

They staged a propaganda campaign with local journalists, community activists and the white vigilante group, the Red Shirts. Alex Manly, the Daily Record’s editor of Wilmington’s Black newspaper, became a primary target. In response to calls for lynching Black men to “protect” white women, Manly printed an editorial challenging these racist tropes, declaring that sexual relations across racial lines were often consensual and that white men frequently assaulted Black women with impunity, infuriating white supremacist leaders.

On Election Day, the Democrats won control of the state but not of Wilmington’s local government, causing lingering tensions to escalate. The following day, 800 white men assembled at the courthouse to outline a “White Declaration of Independence,” proclaiming they would no longer accept authority from Black leaders.

Waddell directed a mob of 2,000 to the Daily Record’s offices, where they burned the establishment to the ground, symbolically silencing Black voices.

The Red Shirts, the Wilmington Light Infantry and other armed groups attacked Black residents, many of whom were unarmed, killing indiscriminately. While violence transpired, Waddell’s mob marched into city hall and ousted the sitting government officials, installing white leaders. Waddell declared himself mayor.

In a final act of torment, Black community leaders were jailed under the guise of protection, then accompanied to the train station and forced to leave Wilmington under armed guard.

In the aftermath, thousands of Black residents fled. Over the following years, North Carolina legislation laws deprived Black citizens of voting rights, setting the stage for decades of Jim Crow oppression.