The war forced a social and political revolution
in North Carolina led by Northern opportunists. The white residents of
Bertie County organized to counter the political organizations of black
residents which disenfranchised them, the Loyal and Union Leagues, and
Republican party.
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
Postwar Political Revolution in Bertie County:
“On May 5, 1864, the Battle of Batchelor’s Bay occurred in Albemarle Sound. The Ram Albemarle came down the river after its victory at Plymouth en route to New Bern with the idea of liberating that city too. It was met by seven Federal gunboats, and a 3-hour artillery duel resulted in a draw. The Yankee warships were damaged, and the Albemarle limped back into Plymouth with its mission abandoned. Windsor was briefly occupied [by Northern troops], looted and hostages carried away.
War’s aftermath was worse. In 1868, a period of blight and despair descended on Bertie County. In that year Negroes “of all ages and all degrees of ignorance” took possession of Bertie County, filled the offices and spread dismay, egged on by unscrupulous whites and protected by the Freedmen’s Bureau – to quote from Robert Winston’s “A Far Cry.” Not only did the Negro voters outnumber whites, the minority race was crowded out of the polls and many of them could not vote at all.
Reign of Terror:
Chaos was the result. In Windsor, the victorious blacks crowded the barroom of a [scalawag] carpet-bagger. The “town was terrorized,” recalls Winston, an eyewitness. Meantime, general deterioration set in; the land was bankrupted. Well-kept plantations became worthless; fences broke down, stock roamed at large; mud covered the ditches; worthless tenants neglected husbandrymanship.
Some plantation owners could not survive, and surrendered and left; others could not even afford to do that – they stayed with their shambles. And many of the families of those who stayed and saw it through still live in and lead Bertie today.
Saved by the Klan:
The tide turned when the whites organized under the Ku Klux Klan, a counter-revolution. Restoration of white government was a prelude to general but slow recovery. In 1876 Bertie was still entirely dependent upon a plantation economy. There was not in the whole county, a telegraph line, a railroad, or a factory. Farming was resumed as it had been before – with cotton the king – though now, in many instances the field work was done by tenants.”
(A New Geography, Volume IV, Bill Sharpe, Sharpe Publishing Company, 1965, pp. 1717-1718)
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
Postwar Political Revolution in Bertie County:
“On May 5, 1864, the Battle of Batchelor’s Bay occurred in Albemarle Sound. The Ram Albemarle came down the river after its victory at Plymouth en route to New Bern with the idea of liberating that city too. It was met by seven Federal gunboats, and a 3-hour artillery duel resulted in a draw. The Yankee warships were damaged, and the Albemarle limped back into Plymouth with its mission abandoned. Windsor was briefly occupied [by Northern troops], looted and hostages carried away.
War’s aftermath was worse. In 1868, a period of blight and despair descended on Bertie County. In that year Negroes “of all ages and all degrees of ignorance” took possession of Bertie County, filled the offices and spread dismay, egged on by unscrupulous whites and protected by the Freedmen’s Bureau – to quote from Robert Winston’s “A Far Cry.” Not only did the Negro voters outnumber whites, the minority race was crowded out of the polls and many of them could not vote at all.
Reign of Terror:
Chaos was the result. In Windsor, the victorious blacks crowded the barroom of a [scalawag] carpet-bagger. The “town was terrorized,” recalls Winston, an eyewitness. Meantime, general deterioration set in; the land was bankrupted. Well-kept plantations became worthless; fences broke down, stock roamed at large; mud covered the ditches; worthless tenants neglected husbandrymanship.
Some plantation owners could not survive, and surrendered and left; others could not even afford to do that – they stayed with their shambles. And many of the families of those who stayed and saw it through still live in and lead Bertie today.
Saved by the Klan:
The tide turned when the whites organized under the Ku Klux Klan, a counter-revolution. Restoration of white government was a prelude to general but slow recovery. In 1876 Bertie was still entirely dependent upon a plantation economy. There was not in the whole county, a telegraph line, a railroad, or a factory. Farming was resumed as it had been before – with cotton the king – though now, in many instances the field work was done by tenants.”
(A New Geography, Volume IV, Bill Sharpe, Sharpe Publishing Company, 1965, pp. 1717-1718)
No comments:
Post a Comment