Day 47: The Wilmington Insurrection—The Only Successful Coup in U.S. History

On November 10, 1898, the city of Wilmington, North Carolina, became the site of the only successful coup d’état in U.S. history—when white supremacists overthrew the democratically elected government and violently erased Black political power.

What Happened?

🔴 Wilmington was a thriving, majority-Black city, with Black leaders holding government positions, owning businesses, and running newspapers.
🔴 The white elite, led by Democrats and former Confederates, resented Black political and economic success.
🔴 In the 1898 election, Black and white Fusionist leaders (a coalition of Black Republicans and progressive white Populists) won control of the local government.
🔴 White supremacist leaders, including future North Carolina governor Charles Aycock, planned a violent coup to take back power.

The Coup & Massacre

🔻 On November 10, 1898, a mob of 2,000 armed white men stormed the city.
🔻 They burned down the Black-owned Daily Record newspaper, the only Black-run daily in the U.S. at the time.
🔻 They murdered an estimated 60-300 Black residents in cold blood.
🔻 The democratically elected government was forced to resign at gunpoint and was replaced with white supremacist officials.
🔻 Black residents were terrorized and forced to flee Wilmington, permanently shifting the city's racial and political landscape.

Why It Still Matters

The Wilmington Coup was erased from history books for decades, falsely described as a “race riot.” In reality, it was a planned white supremacist uprising that destroyed Black political power in North Carolina for generations.

The impact?
➡ Jim Crow laws tightened across the South, disenfranchising Black voters.
➡ No one was ever held accountable.
➡ Systemic racial inequality in politics, economics, and voting rights remains today.