Post #3287350
2026-06-06 18:22 UTC
Four million formerly enslaved people answered that question for themselves. They built schools, churches, political organizations, newspapers, and voting blocs. Congress rewrote the Constitution. Black men entered public office across the South.
For a brief moment, American democracy expanded as never before.
2/14
Image: The Freedmen's Schoolhouse in Smithfield is the last-of-its-kind in North Carolina. Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
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@Deglassco@mastodon.social 2026-06-06 18:28
The backlash was immediate. Terrorists rode at night. Teachers were beaten. Voters were threatened and murdered. Elections were overturned. A new story had to be told: that democracy itself had become a threat, that Black citizenship meant corruption, and that freedom had gone too far. 3/14 Image 1: White crowd gathered before the burned offices of the Daily Record, Wilmington, NC, November 10, 1898. Photograph. North Carolina Room, New Hanover County Public Library, Wilmington, NC.