Black Voters in North Carolina Fell From 125,000 to 6,000 in Six Years
After the 1898 Wilmington coup, the state did not elect another Black member of Congress for 91 years.
Stuff You Should Know · The Wilmington MassacreIn just six years, the number of registered Black voters in North Carolina fell from 125,000 in 1896 to 6,000 in 1902. The collapse followed the violent overthrow of the biracial government in Wilmington in November 1898, when armed white men killed Black residents, burned a Black newspaper, and forced elected officials to resign.
One of the coup conspirators, George Roundtree, was later elected to the state legislature and sponsored a 1901 voting measure whose stated goal was to eliminate the Black vote. It passed easily, and lawmakers then added segregation rules for train cars, bathrooms, movie theaters, and even courtroom Bibles.
The political freeze lasted for generations. Once Black congressman George H. White completed his final term in 1901, North Carolina did not elect another Black member of Congress until 1992, a gap of 91 years.
Questions people ask
What was the Fusionist government that was overthrown?
Republicans and members of the Populist Party joined forces in North Carolina in the 1890s to avoid splitting the vote against Democrats. The coalition won statewide races in 1894 and 1896, electing a Republican governor and both white and Black local officials, and it supported policies like school funding and ballots that illiterate voters could use.
How did a single law cut voter rolls so quickly?
North Carolina, like other Southern states at the time, used measures such as literacy tests and poll taxes that were applied in ways that disqualified Black voters. A grandfather clause initially exempted many white voters whose ancestors could vote before 1867. Together, those rules removed almost all Black voters from the rolls within a few years.
Who was George H. White?
White served in the U.S. House from 1897 to 1901 and was the only Black member of Congress during much of that time. He left North Carolina after his term and moved his law practice first to Washington and later to Philadelphia. He remained active in business and civil rights work for the rest of his life.