Browse Exhibits (59 total)

In August of 1900, the voters of North Carolina ratified an amendment to the state constitution designed to disfranchise thousands of their fellow citizens based solely on the color of their skin. The Suffrage Amendment was crafted and supported by the Democratic Party, who, as part of their 1900 political campaign, launched a well-coordinated, although viciously racist, disfranchisement crusade, centered on issues of white supremacy and the supposed threat of “negro domination.” The Democrats’ claim to represent the best interests of North Carolina’s white men, however, did not go unchallenged. In fact leaders on both sides of the debate attempted to convince white voters that the best way to promote white supremacy was to join with their respective parties. This exhibit examines the debate over disfranchisement in 1900 and the role of white supremacist ideology in the arguments offered by both the Democrats and their Populist and, to a lesser extent Republican, opponents. Ultimately the Democrats, with the aid of prominent party newspapers such as the Raleigh News and Observer, succeeded in claiming the mantel of the “white man’s party” and making suffrage the central issue of the campaign. The success of Democratic leaders in defining their party in terms of white supremacist ideology and, just as importantly, in convincing a majority of North Carolina’s white voters to identify with their racially stratified platform (of which the amendment was a key part) led not only to Democratic victories in 1900 but also helped to establish the Democrats as the dominant party in the state for the next seventy years. Warning: Some of the items included in this exhibit contain racist images and ideas.

By the beginning of 1862, the progression of the Civil War had slowed tremendously, and it became obvious that it was going to be no short affair. Recognizing this, newsprint media both maintained and increased support for the Confederacy. Two of the largest newspapers to do this were the Weekly Raleigh Register and the Raleigh Standard. By and large, an examination of these two papers during 1862 initially shows an overall support of the Confederate and North Carolinian governments, but ultimately two newspapers' political affiliations are revealed in their reactions to Confederate conscription laws. Beyond early 1862, the Standard’s and Register’s coverage of military service illustrate differences, some subtle, and thus create different perceptions of the war effort that have important, lasting impacts on the public of North Carolina. 

A common sentiment for supporting the Confederate cause during the Civil War included supporting slavery and states’ rights. Such national motivations indeed played a part in the Confederate soldier and the region’s decision to withdraw from the Union. However, many soldiers found personal motivations for why they fought to be far more worthy of their efforts. Lieutenant Joseph J. Hoyle, of the 55^th Regiment of North Carolina, depicted a soldier with these personal motivations. His perseverance and courage to fight for nearly three years are largely drawn from the letters he wrote to his wife during the war. Through the examination of these primary sources Hoyle's personal motivations to fight can be deduced. Hoyle fought for God, his home, and his comrades. Many secondary sources were also reviewed. These secondary sources contain historians James McPherson, George Rable, and Gabor Boritt analysis of soldiers' motivations during the Civil War.

In the context of the Civil War and Reconstruction, it is often thought the white Southern Democrats, known as the “Redeemers” effectively ended the processes of Reconstruction through paramilitary activities, election fraud and manipulation, and general cries of “negro domination.”  With the political compromise that thrust Rutherford B. Hayes to the presidency in 1877, the South is generally considered to have been “Redeemed.”  The Republican-Populist fusion victories in North Carolina state politics in 1894, however, challenged the Democratic Party’s one-party rule.  To regain control of the state, Democrats in 1898 employed scare tactics similar to the Democrats of the 1870s, including the cries of “negro domination.”  This exhibit explores that 1898 Democratic campaign, often referred to as the White Supremacy Campaign, and describes how Democrats played on racial fears of whites to regain control of the state political apparatus.  It further discusses the parallels between Redemption in 1877 and the Democrats attempts to Redeem the state again in 1898, which in turn led to the passage of disfranchisement legislation.  It concludes that the White Supremacy Campaign and disfranchisement at the turn of the century offered Democrats a more effective mechanism for a second Redemption.  

This exhibit will describe the interpretation of Albion Tourgee, an author and carpetbagger who previously served as a solider in the Union army but relocated to Greensboro NC, on the depictions of African Americans throughout the Civil War and Reconstruction. Specifically, Tourgee's fiction writing will be analyzed to determine how the White perceptions of African Americans involved very distinct ideas about their incapability to hold rights, inherent inferiority and how many viewpoints were based on validation from Christianity. Some background on Tourgee will be provided as well in order to fully understand how he came to the beliefs which influenced both his writing and political work.