During the final decade of the nineteenth century, North Carolina witnessed an upset of political power that represented the state’s struggle between the industrialized Democrats and the agriculturally focused fusion party of Populists and Republicans. A complicated platform along with cooperation with an integrated party would divide Populists and gave the Democratic Party the lethal weapon of white supremacy to finally dissolve the party. This campaign before the election of 1898 used fear and violence to dissolve the Populist influence before attempting to secure it in the next two years with a constitutional amendment to disenfranchise African Americans. The amendment, focused on disenfranchising the illiterate and poor, would not only affect African Americans but most of the North Carolinians in the western part of the state. The campaign for the amendment in Asheville would be supported by the Asheville Citizen and was countered by an anti-amendment campaign led by and The Asheville Gazette. Studying the conflicting campaigns in Buncombe County, where the amendment was eventually voted in favor of, will create an understanding of the struggle between classes and sectional issues and how the Democrats succeeded in securing power.
