[White Men's Convention]:

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY EIGHT THOUSAND VOTERS AT THE GREAT WHITE MEN'S CONVENTION IN GOLDSBORO, N.C., OCTOBER 28.

[Raleigh? 1898]. Folio broadsheet, 17" x 11," printed in two columns on recto and verso. Uniformly browned, with bold title typefaces. The verso is AN OPEN LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN SIMMONS TO THE HON. JETER C. PRITCHARD, and dated in type at the end, "Raleigh, N.C., October 29th, 1898," a little more than a week before the State elections. Very Good, in a simple double-side mat.

This rare broadsheet, an unapologetic manifesto of White Supremacy, issued at a crucial moment in North Carolina politics. It distills Democratic Party sentiments, angrily expressed during the State elections of 1898. The Democrats' mission is to "reunite white men at the ballot box," in order to redress the "consequence of turning these local offices over to the negroes," who are not "capable of administering a government. . . Homes have been invaded, and the sanctity of woman endangered. Business has been paralyzed and property rendered less valuable. The majesty of the law has been disregarded and lawlessness encouraged. . . This negro domination was made possible through a division of white men at the ballot box." This Goldsboro Convention adopts eight Resolutions, all aimed at returning political power to "honest, capable white men."
On the verso, Democratic Party Chair Furnifold M. Simmons asks Senator Jeter C. Pritchard 29 questions challenging Pritchard's denial "that there is in any part of North Carolina negro rule or domination." Thwarting Democrats' hopes, an 1894 Republican - Populist alliance elected Republican Jeter C. Pritchard as North Carolina's U.S. Senator. "Do you deny that the Republican Party has this year nominated in various counties in the East negroes for register of deeds, treasurers, coroners, constables, county commissioners, and magistrates?"
"The election of 1898 marked a turning point in the history of North Carolina. In the years leading up to the election there were three active political parties vying for the support of the state's electorate, and African Americans had a significant role in state politics, both as officeholders and voters. After 1898, all of that would change. The political landscape through most of the twentieth century was affected by issues and policies raised in the campaign of 1898. . . As the election of 1898 got closer, the Democrats scrambled to come up with a new strategy to regain power. Furnifold Simmons, who had successfully run the 1892 campaign for the party, was appointed party chairman and charged with managing the campaign. Simmons was a successful organizer with a keen knowledge of state politics. But perhaps Simmons's most important contribution to the campaign would be the decision to focus nearly all of the party's campaign efforts on a single issue: white supremacy. The 'white supremacy campaign' was exactly that. The Democrats repeatedly stated that only white men were fit to hold political office. They often accused the fusionists, especially the Republicans, of supporting 'negro domination' in the state. Indeed, there were a large number of African American officeholders, some of whom had been elected and many more who were appointed to office. The Democrats referred to themselves as the 'white man's party' and appealed to white North Carolinians to restore them to power." ['The Election of 1898 in North Carolina,' online exhibit at the Library of UNC].
Furnifold was successful. On November 8, 1898, Democrats won a majority of the seats in the legislature. They immediately enacted legislation and encouraged violence that effectively disfranchised African American voters. Two days after the election, "a mob of murderous white supremacists overthrew the elected local government of Wilmington, North Carolina. Along the way, they destroyed the city's thriving Black newspaper and killed more than sixty of their neighbors" [Farbman, REDEMPTION LOCALISM, in 100 NC Law Rev. 1527. 2022].
Not in Thornton, LCP, Work. Blockson. Not located on OCLC as of December 2022, although Duke University owns the only other known copy. Not at the online sites of Library of Congress, AAS, UNC, NC State U. Item #38995

Price: $5,000.00