The events of The Marrow of Tradition take place amid ongoing backlash to Reconstruction (1865-1877), which aimed to integrate Southern states back into the US following the Civil War. Many Southerners bristled at the gains made by Black Americans during this period, resulting in the founding of white supremacist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan and efforts to undo or work around new legal protections for Black Americans.

However, 1890s North Carolina was a partial exception to this rule, as an uneasy coalition of Black Americans and working-class white Americans resulted in electoral victories for a “Fusionist” movement of Republicans (historically anti-enslavement) and populists. In response to this threat to their power, wealthy white North Carolinians launched a propaganda campaign to stir up racist sentiment and ensure a Democratic victory in the 1898 elections. One key player in this campaign was Josephus Daniels, who owned the Raleigh News and Observer—the inspiration for Chesnutt’s Major Carteret and his Morning Chronicle.

The campaign had the desired effect throughout the state. However, the town of Wilmington (“Wellington” in The Marrow of Tradition) was the site of racist propagandizing and voter suppression as well as a white supremacist riot. Wilmington was a majority Black community, and many of its Black residents belonged to the professional or middle classes.