Cape Fear Rising
Philip Gerard talked about his novel, Cape Fear Rising, about an 1898 insurrection in Wilmington, North Carolina. In the decades following the Civil War, Wilmington became destination for the middle class African American community, soon becoming the majority in the city and even holding public office. By 1898, the white minority in the city had had enough and planned a political coup d’etat.
Description
Philip Gerard talked about his novel, Cape Fear Rising, about an 1898 insurrection in Wilmington, North Carolina. In the decades following the Civil War, Wilmington became destination for the middle class African American community, soon becoming the majority in the city and even holding public office. By 1898, the white minority in the city had had enough and planned a political coup d’etat.
Bell Ringer Assignment
- What percentage of the Wilmington population was African-American in 1898?
- How did the Democratic Party "take back" the state from African-Americans?
- What was the White Man's Declaration of Independence? What committee formed as a result of this declaration?
- What events caused the city of Wilmington to shut down for three days?
- Who created the Grandfather Clause? What was its purpose?
Participants
Vocabulary
- African Americans
- Cape Fear
- Freedman Bureau
- Insurrection
- North Carolina
- Plantations
- Progressive
- Slavery
- Wilmington