The real story of the Hamburg Incident is that two groups of South Carolinians, each with much more in common than they possibly realized did violence to each other. They shared commonalities of misplaced hate, fear, insecurity and pride of principle. The events of 8 July 1876 shaped the future of South Carolina more significantly than any event to occur here before or since. The loss of life was tragic, but if a common narrative that binds us together as South Carolinians is to be found in this event is that of blood sacrifice on the eventual road to who we are today – it is
As a one so recently introduced into the myriad of issues that seem to be inflaming passions related to monuments, interpretive plagues and the proper utilization of historic properties within the city I cannot say that I know all of the personal
It is not my purpose here to discuss if the city council should have selected a different site for the new public safety headquarters. I suspect there are better properties from a logistical and access point of view but my intent here is to address the counter-arguments related to the Flythe house and the Hamburg Incident (or Massacre if you prefer). I submit that it is very important to discuss North Augusta’s history vis-a-vis Hamburg but that it is not helpful to conflate the discussion of the location of the public safety headquarters into that discussion. The bottom line is the city, could, if planned properly, construct a headquarters building that is architecturally true to the original Seven Gables design and accommodates some homage to Starkey Flythe onsite. If they are intent on building at that location, these points are for a separate discussion.
Something of a more weighty matter, that is lost in the conflation of political discussions and debate, is the narrative and history of this side of the river. I ask humbly that you bear with me through my argument, it may seem to offend sensibilities of all sides at one point or another but I believe there is an important common ground and story to be told. I contend that this is where discussions of monuments and historical interpretation should be aimed.
In terms of its greater impact what happened in Hamburg on July 8, 1876 was the most significant historic event to occur in North Augusta/Hamburg. That event set in motion a series of other events that fueled the eventual election of Wade Hampton and the end of the Federal Occupation of South Carolina and Reconstruction. We must be very careful to deconstruct what that meant and not merely jump to faulty conclusions. Ending the occupation of South Carolina was a positive good – independent of any and all of the other potentially negative impacts that followed. Those unfortunate reactionary measures should not be conflated with or tarnish the positive of being free of a foreign army of occupation. Arguments against Jim Crow and the disenfranchisement of Blacks in South Carolina are valid but it would be a faulty analogy to argue that because bad things followed the end of occupation reconstruction itself must have been a good thing for South Carolina. It was bad for all South Carolinians, black, white, rich and poor.
To provide some idea of how bad reconstruction really was for South Carolina one need only look at the fraud and scandal surrounding the state legislature and the treasury from 1867-1874.
For example:
“…in 1870–1871, the state’s financial board secured the authority to print and sell $1 million in state bonds; there were to be $1,000 bonds numbered 1 to 1,000. Members of the board printed two sets— both numbered 1 to 1,000—and sold both sets. They kept no records of their transactions and were caught only when a New York investment firm came into possession of two bonds with the same number on both. Partly as a result of such malfeasance, and partly because of legitimate increases in expenditures such as the creation of a public school system from scratch, state budgets skyrocketed during Reconstruction and the state slipped further and further into debt. ” SC Encyclopedia
For many from the North, with an eye toward profit, Reconstruction served as a perfect mechanism to extract from the South and South Carolina treasure for their own purposes. The South, and her people black and white, became easy prey to anyone with an entrepreneurial and unethical frame of mind. Infrastructure was ruined, the social security provided by the former slave system was gone. Sharecropping became the economic model – a system that provided no security at all for the laborers at the bottom of the system. Northern investors provided high-interest loans to plantation owners, and when the price of cotton plummeted in the late 1860’s these loans could not be repaid. The first people to suffer under this system were sharecroppers. The only people to profit were Northern investors supported by an occupation army.
It is perhaps even more nefarious. Northern Republicans were only too happy to use the majority black vote to secure state offices. Even being so “kind” as to admit several black legislators don’t you know. Of course, they never allowed or conceived of allowing the black population to actually control state politics or hold the highest offices. This was paternalism coupled with manipulation and not so subtle disdain. They used the black population to attain power.
Additionally, rather than quelling racial animosity in the State, the policies and actions of the occupying army and Northern opportunist served only to incite it. I shall explain.
People often focus on racism as the cause of so many ills. I suggest racism is just a version of hate -sim. Hate based upon race is just easier to spot, it is obviously in the pigment of skin, it is easy to identify a target of one’s hatred. But
By misplaced hate, of course, I mean, both the black and white population of South Carolina had good cause to be upset with the occupation, with the running of the state government, with finances and with the economy in general. Many whites had been outright disenfranchised, blacks could now vote but still did not really run the affairs of the state and both groups shared the burden of a failed economy and a dismal future if the circumstance did not change.
If my assessment of the Union occupation and Republican rule of South Carolina seems too harsh perhaps I can allow that the US was essentially an amateur at nation-building and occupation in the late 1800s. Many of the mistakes I personally observed in Iraq were the same mistakes the Union Army made – disenfranchising an entire population and leaving them with no political voice, failure to address economic issues etc. Obviously, those failures throughout the decade of the 2000s resulted in the formation and expansion of ISIS so after 130 years the US has really gotten no better at the task. That being said, the problems created by reconstruction and the violent reactionary movement that resulted from it still must be laid clearly on those that created the problem and not simply chalked up to the mysterious boogeyman of racism -it is so much more complex than that.
So we arrive on the fateful day of July 4th, 1876. The militia in Hamburg was conducting a 4th of July Parade. Consider, the South simply did not celebrate the 4th until the Spanish American War and not wholly until the First World War. It simply did not happen, it was a Union holiday. However, the predominately black population of Hamburg was celebrating that day, replete with their militia on parade.
Consider how inflammatory this entire circumstance was, Governor Robert Scott, a “real estate speculator” and former Union officer from Pennsylvania had armed the Hamburg militia with state arms. Whites were precluded from serving in or forming militias. Captain Doc Adams, proud of his position and the patronage shown by the Republicans in charge of the state proudly paraded his company that day in Hamburg. One cannot really fault him for this, the real culprit that set up this situation is the marionette occupying the state capital.
Then we have of course the two white farmers from Edgefield that confronted Adams on the road that day. Did these two likely know about the 4th of July celebration? Probably? Is it reasonable to assume they were out to make a scene or cause trouble? – Perhaps.
The events of the next four days are fairly well documented, and unfortunately, occupy much of the narrative and disagreement over how the events of 8 July 1876 ought to be remembered. I argue again, that the tragic outcome of that day should not be the keystone of the story.
The real story of the Hamburg Incident is that two groups of South Carolinians, each with much more in common than they possibly realized did violence to each other. They shared commonalities of misplaced hate, fear, insecurity and pride of principle. The events of 8 July 1876 shaped the future of South Carolina more significantly than any event to occur here before or since. The loss of life was tragic, but if a common narrative that binds us together as South Carolinians is to be found in this event it is that of blood sacrifice on the eventual road to who we are today. It should not be a story of this group versus that group, told from two sides. All involved were sons of our fair State.
If the city wants to tackle this issue and create a narrative that tells history in
