I’m reading David Zucchino’s powerful history of the murderous coup of 1898, Wilmington’s Lie. It’s a heartbreaking recount of the emerging Black economic and political power in Wilmington during reconstruction and the rise of white supremacy that later crushed it. `1/

Zucchino introduces us to a number of special people, including Abraham Galloway (1837-1870). Abraham Galloway was a remarkable NCian – over the course of his 33 years, he was a slave, a civil war spy, a civil rights leader, a state constitution delegate, & a state senator. 2/

Born just outside Wilmington, Galloway moved to town as a teenager, a trained brickmason who was forced to pay his owner his wages. He escaped slavery in 1857 at age 20 by hiding out on a ship full of naval stores (turpentine, etc.), first to Philadelphia & later to Canada. 3/

During the war, he served as a Union spy traveling from MD to MS. In 1863 in New Bern, he mustered 3 units of the US Colored Troops but only after negotiating a series of conditions guaranteeing equal pay, shelter for the troops' families, & schools for Black children. 4/

Only in his mid-20s, he had become a renowned national advocate for the rights of Black people. In April 1864, he & 4 other former slaves from NC “walked through the front door of the White House” to meet with President Lincoln. 5/

Galloway followed up his appreciation to Lincoln for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation with a demand for the right to vote for Black people, quoting the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln listened but made no commitments. 6/

The NY Times covered the 1st mass political gathering of freedman in NC in August 1865, describing Galloway as a “leading spirit” & an “eloquent orator.” He demanded the right to education & to vote for formerly enslaved people, with no educational or property restrictions. 7/

Zucchino writes that Galloway, perhaps more than any other, was responsible for transformation of many Black people in Wilm. “from oppressed slaves to free men who demanded the rights promised them by their gvt.” A Northern reporter remarked on “his fearlessness & his audacity.”

Immediately after the war, white legislators enacted the Black Code to make Black people 2nd class citizens. In his speeches, Galloway criticized the practice of police routinely arresting freed slaves on phony charges, such as vagrancy, declaring it was “a crime to be black.” 9/

In 1868, former slaves were permitted to vote on whether to hold a state constitutional convention. The referendum passed & 10% of the delegate seats were filled by Black men, including Galloway, the “star of the convention.” 10/

At the convention, Galloway successfully argued for universal suffrage for all men, with no restrictions for property or literacy. And to the outrage of Wilmington’s white papers, he also had dinner with a white man at a restaurant while in Raleigh. 11/

The election for the Constitution of 1868 & the new legislature was a watershed event in state history. In the face of white politicians claiming widespread voter fraud, the new Constitution was affirmed by a coalition of Black voters & white Republicans. 12/

Abraham Galloway was elected to the state Senate, one of 3 African-Americans -- the first to serve in our General Assembly. As a state Senator, he tried to integrate juries, voted for the 14th & 15th Amendments to the US Constitution, and advocated for women’s suffrage. 13/

On 9/1/1870, Galloway tragically died at the young age of 33. More than 6,000 people attended his funeral, the largest ever held in Wilmington. His obituary in Frederick Douglass’s national newspaper referred to Galloway as “brave and bold, eminent and honorable.” 14/

Abraham Galloway was a true NC hero. 15/

Zucchino draws upon many primary sources & references extensively The Fire of Freedom: Abraham Galloway and the Slaves' Civil War by David Cecelski. Here’s a link to Galloway’s historical marker in Wilmington. 16/16 https://ncdncr.medium.com/abraham-galloway-american-hero-901dc2f7f9ee