SEPT 29 the North Carolina Freedmen Convention

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: September 29, 2025 The North Carolina Freedmen Convention one of the first instances of African-Americans getting involved in politics. September 29th 1865, one hundred fifty delegates – nearly all emancipated slaves – attended what they called a 'Convention of Freedmen'. Along with two hundred spectators, the event took place at an AME Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. By the pulpit was a bust of Abraham Lincoln and an inscription: "with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right." They timed it to influence the drafting of a new state constitution, set to begin three days later. Their resolution called for “by political and moral means, as far as may be, the repeal of all laws and parts of laws, State and National, that make distinctions on account of color."Originating this event was Edian Markham, who had escaped bondage and studied for the ministry. Presiding was James Hood, influential African-American Republican activist. This convention established an Equal Rights League, which backed the state GOP. https://rumble.com/v6zl7ug-james-