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Rebecca Felton, a woman from Georgia, gives a speech that chastises white men for not protecting their wives from being raped by black men. She advocates lynching "a thousand times a week" if necessary. (Image of Rebecca Felton retrieved from http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=f000069)
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Alexander Manly publishes an editorial in his African American newspaper in response to Rebecca Felton's speech that suggests that white women have sexual relations with black men consensually and then later cry rape to protect themselves. (Image of Alexander Manly retrieved from http://ncpedia.org/biography/manly-alex)
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A group of men called the Red Shirts ride through Wilmington to intimidate black voters. (Image of a group of Red Shirts retrieved from http://thiscircularparade.com/2011/11/10/the-wilmington-race-riot-of-1898/)
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Alfred Waddell gives a speech at the Democratic Rally encouraging his followers to prevent blacks from voting at all costs, even if it means killing them. (Image of Alfred Waddell retrieved from http://thiscircularparade.com/2011/11/10/the-wilmington-race-riot-of-1898/)
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Although everyone expects violence, election day passes relatively peacefully. The Democrats win largely due to low numbers of Republican voters and higher than average Democratic voting, (Image of White Government Union pin retrived from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncpedia/sets/72157624793854515)
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The victorious Democrats write up a White Declaration of Independence that lists demands to be placed on the African American community. The Democrats then called prominent blacks to a meeting in which they read the list.
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The African Americans that attended the meeting called by the Democrats gathered later that evening to write a response to the White Declaration of Independence. In their response, they state that they will do everything in their power to avoid conflict, although they cannot guarantee to affect change in the community as a whole.
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Waddell had called a meeting with the whites at the Wilmington Light Infantry Armory to await the blacks' reply. When it had not arrived for some time, Waddell fueled the crowd's fury and led them to Manly's press building, gathering a crowd of 1,000 people on the way. When they arrived, they broke the printing press and burned down the building, thus initiating the Wilmington Race Riot. (Image of riot crowd in front of Manly newspaper office retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncpedia)
