Advocating the Dream: 7 notable mass gatherings of the Civil Rights Movement
North Carolina Freedmen's Conventions — 1865, 1866
After the end of the American Civil War, and in keeping with the decades-long tradition of colored conventions, a series of Freedmen Conventions took place across the country, especially in the South and the District of Columbia.
Two notable Freedmen Conventions took place in North Carolina in 1865 and 1866, where scores of black men gathered at the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Raleigh to advocate for constitutional rights.
Famed American newspaper editor and politician Horace Greeley was among the speakers at the 1865 convention, while the 1866 convention featured former governor William H. Holden and acting Governor Jonathan Worth.
“The Freedmen’s Conventions of 1865 and 1866 were the first of their kind in North Carolina. Delegates proclaimed the need for black inclusivity in the political and judicial processes,” noted the North Carolina History Project.
“These two conventions, although diluted by later race relations in North Carolina, writes historian William S. Powell, ‘reflect a period of relative goodwill between the races’ after the contentious Civil War.”
