Election Day Research Paper

On election day, the Democrats arrived at polls armed and ready to assault blacks who had come to place their vote. Voters rigged the ballot boxes and, as expected, the Democrats ended up winning by a large majority. The next day, Alfred Waddell created a Committee of Twenty-five and led its first meeting, during which a series of resolutions collectively known as the White Declaration of Independence were passed. These resolutions included the forced exile of Alex Manly, the closing of the Daily Record, and the expulsion of all current black officeholders, The White Declaration of Independence was presented to the Committee of Colored Citizens (a group of nine black men considered to be powerful in Wilmington) as an ultimatum, and they were given until 7:30 the following morning to deliver a response (Umfleet, 94). Due to complications with delivery, the …show more content…
Almost immediately after the uprising passed, not just the city of Wilmington, but rather the entire state of North Carolina enacted laws that began the Jim Crow era and rescinded all of the progressive statutes passed under the Reconstruction government. The fact that only one major massacre was required to activate this change demonstrates just how high the tensions were boiling. The election of 1900 passed quickly and ended with an overwhelming Democratic win, mainly because blacks and other Fusion party members were too terrified to vote. The Republican party even severed its ties to black voters, understanding the danger that would arise if they continued to support them. As a result, Democrats now held control over the state on every level from the governor’s office to the city mayor (Umfleet, 224). Now that they had taken a state, they proceeded to burn the vestiges of Reconstruction to the ground and rebuild the state on a foundation of pure white