Representative Alfred Moore Waddell

Alfred Moore Waddell served as a Representative from North Carolina in the United States Congress from 1871 to 1879. A member of the Democratic Party, Alfred Moore Waddell contributed to the legislative process during 4 terms in office.

Alfred Moore Waddell’s service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history. As a member of the House of Representatives, Alfred Moore Waddell participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of constituents.

Alfred Moore Waddell (September 16, 1834 – March 17, 1912) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. representative from North Carolina between 1871 and 1879 and as mayor of Wilmington, North Carolina from 1898 to 1906. Waddell was a leader of the Wilmington insurrection of 1898, in which a violent, coordinated mob of about 2,000 white men massacred up to 90 African-Americans, destroyed the property and businesses of African-Americans, and overthrew the elected Fusion government of the city of Wilmington, North Carolina; and Waddell became mayor of Wilmington after holding his predecessor at gunpoint and forcing him to resign. This event is considered to be the only successful coup d’état to have taken place on U.S. soil, and helped to initiate an era of severe racial segregation and disenfranchisement of African-Americans throughout the South.