Kirk–Holden war

The Kirk–Holden war was a police operation taken against the white supremacist organization Ku Klux Klan by the government in the state of North Carolina in the United States in 1870. The Klan was using murder and intimidation to prevent recently-freed slaves and members of the Republican Party from exercising their right to vote in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Following an increase in Klan activity in North Carolina—including the murder of a black town commissioner in Alamance County and the murder of a Republican state senator in Caswell County—Republican Governor of North Carolina William W. Holden declared both areas to be in a state of insurrection. In accordance with the Shoffner Act, Holden ordered a militia be raised to restore order in the counties and arrest Klansmen suspected of violence. This resulted in the creation of the 1st and 2nd North Carolina Troops, which Holden placed under the overall command of Colonel George Washington Kirk.

In July 1870, Kirk oversaw the deployment of the 2nd North Carolina Troops in Alamance and Caswell counties, while the 1st North Carolina Troops garrisoned the city of Raleigh. A total of 82 men in Alamance and 19 in Caswell were detained on suspicion of Klan-related activity, including a former member of the United States Congress and the sheriffs of both counties, and Klan activity in both counties promptly ceased. No one was killed during the campaign, though the militiamen at times showed poor discipline and used foul language. Kirk's second-in-command also exceeded his orders and sent men to arrest a newspaper editor in Orange County, which was not declared to be in insurrection. Holden initially refused to have the men brought to regular courts under writs of habeas corpus, planning to try them by military tribunal, but eventually gave way to pressure from Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Richmond Mumford Pearson and United States District Court Judge George Washington Brooks. As a result, 49 men were indicted in court for crimes, but all were ultimately acquitted and released by late August.

The militiamen were also deployed to guard polling stations during North Carolina's legislative elections on August 4, but Holden's use of the militia as well as other complaints about Republican corruption and Klan intimidation led the Conservatives and Democrats to take a majority of seats in the North Carolina General Assembly. Holden ordered the militia to disband on September 21, and on November 10 he declared that there was no longer a state of insurrection in Alamance and Caswell counties. Conservative and Democratic-leaning newspapers heavily criticized his actions and his political opponents coined the name "Kirk–Holden war" to describe the affair. The General Assembly subsequently filed articles of impeachment against Holden in December and ultimately removed him from office in March 1871. Holden was the first governor in the United States to be removed in such fashion, and his campaign against the Klan and the impeachment crippled the image of the Republican Party in North Carolina for many years. The General Assembly subsequently repealed the Shoffner Act and passed another law designed to grant amnesty to Klansmen.

## Background

### Political situation in North Carolina

In 1861, the state of North Carolina seceded from the United States and joined other Southern states in forming the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy subsequently fought with the non-seceding states, or Union, during the American Civil War. The conflict caused intense political divisions within North Carolina, as many of its residents, particularly those in the mountains and coastal regions, were opposed to the war and maintained Unionist sympathies. Politician William W. Holden unsuccessfully sought election as Governor of North Carolina in 1864 on a "peace platform" which included withdrawing from the war. The Confederacy ultimately lost the war in 1865 and North Carolina reverted to the jurisdiction of the United States. The issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation during the conflict meant that the federal government recognized the freedom of over 330,000 enslaved blacks in North Carolina; this came into effect in most of the state with the end of the war. With the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in December 1865, slavery was formally abolished across the United States.

In 1867, the United States Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts, which placed most of the Southern states under military occupation; North Carolina was placed in the Second Military District. The acts also disfranchised many former Confederates, and required states to revise their constitutions to enfranchise freedmen and ratify the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted equal citizenship to black people. That year, Holden organized a Republican Party branch within North Carolina with both black and white members. North Carolina Republicans generally favored equal citizenship and civil rights for all persons regardless of race. The opposing Democratic Party, also known during this time as the Conservatives, encompassed a range of opinion but generally advocated for the withholding of certain rights from non-whites and forcing blacks to work menial jobs. Republicans dominated the convention which revised the state constitution in 1868, resulting in a more democratic document. That year state legislative and gubernatorial elections were held. The Democratic Party attempted to paint the Republican Party as the "Negro" organization, but the Republicans won a majority in the North Carolina General Assembly and Holden was elected Governor of North Carolina by over 18,000 votes. Numerous black men were also elected to office. Federal military presence diminished, though troops remained posted in the capital city of Raleigh. In 1869 North Carolina ratified the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing the right to vote to all citizens regardless of race or color.

### Rise of Ku Klux Klan activity

The Ku Klux Klan was founded as a fraternal society in December 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee, by several former Confederate officers. It quickly became a vehicle for terrorizing black people and white Republicans across the South. In 1867, several Klan chapters met in Nashville and produced a constitution endorsing white supremacy and requiring potential members to support "the restitution of the Southern people to all their rights". Organization of the Klan was loose and fractured across regions, but all chapters were generally committed to limiting the rights of freedmen and opposing the Republican Party. Klan activity first cropped up in North Carolina during the elections of 1868. It committed some minor acts of violence—including destruction of blacks' property—but had little impact on the conduct of the contests. Klan membership grew as white North Carolinians became frustrated with the Republican government and by 1869 Klansmen were murdering black people to intimidate them and prospective Republican voters. Klan murders continued throughout the Piedmont region of the state through 1869 and 1870, especially in the counties of Moore, Chatham, Alamance, Orange, and Caswell. Violence was worst in counties that had significant black populations.

Local authorities were unable and often unwilling to prosecute Klan-related offenses. At Holden's request, in February 1869 the General Assembly authorized the creation of a detective force to investigate and undermine the Klan. Arrests were made but the violence continued. In November Holden asked the General Assembly to strengthen the provisions of the state militia law so that he could better confront the violence, telling the body, "Numerous complaints have been made to me of violence and mob law in certain counties, by parties who ride at night armed and disguised [...] injuring, insulting, and punishing inoffensive whites and colored persons." Holden thought that a revised law would ameliorate victims' fears and would protect black and white Republicans from Klan assaults. State Senator T. M. Shoffner of Alamance County introduced a bill to Holden's request on December 16, titled "An Act to Secure the Better Protection of Life and Property". Its provisions empowered the governor to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, declare a state of insurrection "whenever in his judgement the civil authorities in any county are unable to protect its citizens in the enjoyment of life and property", and request the assistance of federal authorities if state militia proved insufficient. Conservatives in the legislature delayed passage of the bill—dubbed the Shoffner Act—and particularly objected to the provision for the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, suggesting it was unconstitutional. The provision was removed and the act was passed into law in January 1870. The Klan was affronted by the law and several Alamance Klansmen plotted to kill Shoffner at his home. The plan dissolved after Shoffner was tipped off and escaped, but he continued to receive death threats and eventually fled to Indiana. Klansmen in Moore also proposed the assassination of Holden during this time.

## Prelude

### Klan violence in Alamance County and the murder of Wyatt Outlaw

Klan violence in the Piedmont worsened after the passage of the Shoffner Act. Early in the morning on February 26, 1870, about 100 masked Klansmen rode to Graham, Alamance County, and abducted Wyatt Outlaw, a town commissioner and leading black figure in the county's Republican Party chapter. They hanged him in the courthouse square and pinned a note to his body, reading "Beware, you guilty, both white and black." That evening Klansmen visited the Alamance home of black Republican Henry Holt. Holt was not there, but the Klansmen told his wife that he should leave the area or face the same fate as Outlaw. Holt promptly fled the county. Less than two weeks later another black man, William Puryear, was found dead in a millpond tied down to a rock. Puryear, who was mentally disabled, had claimed to have followed two of Outlaw's killers to their homes and identified them. Graham Republican H. A. Badham wrote to Holden, saying, "Every republican in the County who has stood up for his own rights and that of freedmen, is in danger. The civil authorities are powerless to bring these offenders against law and humanity, to Justice."

On March 7, Holden issued a proclamation of a state of insurrection in Alamance County. Hoping to use this as a warning against future offenses, Holden dispatched 40 federal troops stationed in Raleigh to Alamance. The lieutenant in charge of the soldiers reported that the situation was deteriorating and convinced the mayor and a local magistrate to issue warrants for the arrest of 12 men suspected of involvement in various murders, but the charges were dropped when other citizens offered alibis and death threats were made against the officials. Holden subsequently wrote to United States President Ulysses S. Grant to ask for assistance. Mindful that the Shoffner Act did not empower him as governor to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, he wrote:

> If Congress would authorize the suspension by the President of the writ of habeas corpus in certain localities, and if criminals could be arrested and tried before military tribunals, and shot, we would soon have peace and order throughout all this country. The remedy would be a sharp and bloody one, but it is as indispensable as was the suppression of the rebellion [during the Civil War].

Grant responded by dispatching more federal troops to North Carolina, but took no additional action. Holden made further appeals for federal support, asking United States Senator for North Carolina Joseph Carter Abbott for help and sending North Carolina Adjutant-General A. W. Fisher to Richmond, Virginia, to speak with Major General Edward Canby, commander of the Second Military District, to ask for reinforcements from the United States Army. Canby was not convinced that Alamance County was truly experiencing an insurrection and told Fisher that only the president could send more forces. United States Secretary of War William W. Belknap eventually dispatched two infantry companies to the county. North Carolina Klansmen remained attentive to the situation in Alamance and realized that Holden was isolated, but tempered their activities in the county over the next few months. For his part, Holden dispatched more detectives across the state to investigate the Klan and encouraged local authorities to take action.

### Klan violence in Caswell County and the murder of John W. Stephens

Meanwhile, Klan violence in Caswell County escalated. Klansmen flogged at least 21 black and white Republicans between April 2 and May 15, and murdered Robin Jacobs, a black man from the vicinity of Leasburg, on May 13. The Republican State Senator of Caswell County, John W. Stephens, became increasingly fearful of Klan attack. On May 21 he went to the Caswell County Courthouse in Yanceyville to watch the county Democratic Party host its nominating convention. After watching the proceedings he accompanied Frank A. Wiley to the ground level of the courthouse. Stephens wished to convince Wiley, a Democrat and former sheriff, to seek re-election to the office with his support and thus achieve a political reconciliation in the county. Wiley had secretly agreed to work with the Klan and lured Stephens into a trap; between 10 and 15 Klansmen awaited him on the ground floor and detained him. John Lea, the founder of the local Klan chapter, entered the room where Stephens was being held with more men. One Klansmen, G. T. Mitchell, held a rope around Stephens's neck, while another, Tom Oliver, stabbed him to death. The Klansmen left and locked the room, planning to return to move the body that night.

After Stephens failed to return home that evening, his brothers and friends came to the courthouse to look for him. One of them saw a body in the locked room through a window and, after forcing their way inside, identified it as Stephens. The coroner conducted an inquest which included the interviewing of numerous persons, including Wiley and Lea, who lied about their knowledge of the affair. Caswell County Sheriff Jesse Griffith, himself a Klansmen, made no serious attempts to investigate the killing. The coroner's report ultimately concluded that the state senator was murdered by "persons unknown", and the circumstances of the killing remained unclear until Lea's signed confession to participation in the events was published posthumously in 1935. Klansmen and the Conservative press accused black people of committing the murder.

### Holden's response

Holden was disgusted by the murder of Stephens. On May 25, he publicly condemned the killing and offered a \$500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators. He also wired Abbott and Senator John Pool to ask for federal assistance. The United States Congress passed the Enforcement Act of 1870, authorizing the president and other federal officials to call up the United States Army and militia forces to assist in Klan-suppression efforts, but Grant chose not to employ it. Holden received a stream of letters asking for more aggressive action. He was initially wary of more forceful moves, fearing a political backlash, but by early June had formulated plans to call forth a state militia to occupy Alamance and Caswell County. He hoped he could successfully contain the Klan in a manner similar to actions taken by Governor Powell Clayton in Arkansas.

On June 8, Holden hosted a meeting of Republicans in Raleigh to discuss the situation in Caswell County. Pool recommended that militiamen be sent to arrest Klansmen and that they be put through a military tribunal. Richard Badger, one of the governor's closest advisers, suggested that this was politically risky and that arrested Klansmen should be handed over to a specially-appointed judge and tried in regular courts. Holden eventually agreed with Pool, and then moved on to discuss the make-up of the militia to be raised. The officials ruled out the use of the regular state militia—who they thought sympathized with the Klan—and the use of a black militia—which they feared would worsen race relations. They concluded that a force of white militiamen should be raised among western North Carolinians and that it should be led by a man from the mountains, a Republican political stronghold. They also agreed that another militia contingent of Piedmont and eastern North Carolinians be mustered to occupy the state capital at the same time. Once the western force had suppressed the Klan, detachments of both groups would be dispatched around the state to protect polling stations for the elections scheduled for August.

Holden wrote to W. W. Rollins of Madison County and asked that he muster and lead the western militia to suppress the Klan. Rollins declined but advised Holden to seek the services of George Washington Kirk, who had previously commanded a militia contingent in suppressing the Klan in Tennessee. By mid-June Kirk had arrived in Raleigh and Holden had commissioned him as colonel and ordered him to raise a militia of "loyal" western North Carolinians. Kirk had led Union troops during the Civil War and conducted raids in the mountains; Holden hoped this connection to the state would engender Kirk some support and allow him to recruit loyal Republicans and some of his former soldiers. Some mountain Republicans expressed doubts about the political image that would accompany the movement of troops through the area, but Holden was not dissuaded. Most of Kirk's recruits were young men averaging 21 years in age, though a few were older and nine had served under his command during the war. Most were North Carolinians, but 18 came from Tennessee and other states, in violation of the militia law. Command of the eastern and Piedmont militia was given to William J. Clarke of New Bern, and Holden dispatched him to Washington, D.C., to obtain federal materiel assistance from Grant and the Secretary of War, which he secured. Grant also promised to send additional federal troops to the state. Clarke was initially given overall command of both militias before it was transferred to Kirk.

By early July, Kirk had organized nine companies of militiamen and rode to the Piedmont via rail. His men were issued uniforms and Springfield rifles and officially committed to service at Company Shops in Alamance. This unit was formally known as the 2nd North Carolina State Troops. Kirk left 200 men there under his second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel George B. Bergen, and hastened to Raleigh to meet Holden. Holden supplied him with a list of suspects to arrest—created with information given by Republicans in Caswell and Alamance—and ordered Kirk to personally assume command in Caswell County. Holden also made plans to convene a military tribunal—composed of men selected by him and Kirk—to try those arrested later in the month. On July 8 he declared Caswell to be in a state of insurrection. Clarke's militia of segregated white and black companies became the 1st North Carolina State Troops. It arrived in Raleigh on July 19, and made camp at Old Baptist Grove, several blocks from the North Carolina State Capitol. These troops played a minimal role in the ensuing anti-Klan action. Clarke ordered some of his men to guard strategic locations in Raleigh, while one contingent was dispatched to bring supplies to Kirk's force in Alamance. In addition to Republican and Unionist sympathies, historian Samuel B. McGuire speculated that the men that enlisted in the militias probably hoped to benefit from the pay offered.

Meanwhile, two companies of the 4th Regiment United States Artillery arrived in Yanceyville, while another went to Roxboro in Person County. At the same time, a United States marshal requested the assistance of troops in Chatham County to apprehend Klansmen suspected of murdering a freedman. A detachment of infantry were dispatched and captured most of the suspects, but further requests by the marshal for army assistance were denied. These arrests proved to be the only instance of direct army action against the Klan in North Carolina in 1870.

## The war

### Intervention in Alamance and Caswell counties

On July 13, Holden ordered Kirk's militia to "take the necessary steps to preserve order, and to give the fullest protection to life and property" as well as "take charge of the public buildings [in Alamance and Caswell counties], and arrest and hold for examination persons accused of felonies, especially those charged with, or being accessory to the murder of J.W. Stephens and Wyatt Outlaw." Kirk swept through Alamance and made some arrests before proceeding to Caswell County. He arrived there with about 350 men on July 18, and established his headquarters in Yanceyville. Upon arriving, Kirk learned that congressional candidates James Madison Leach and William L. Scott were holding a debate in the courthouse. He ordered Bergen to surround the building, and then he entered and arrested numerous suspects, including Leach, before Scott interceded for his release. After one officer was assaulted, the militia fixed bayonets. Once the courthouse was cleared, Kirk ordered Bergen to return to Company Shops and assume command of their forces in Alamance County.

A total of 82 men in Alamance and 19 in Caswell were detained. Anticipating the militia's action, some Alamance Klan leaders fled the county, though three suspected leaders were successfully captured. Some Klan members who had become disenchanted with the organization's use of violence decided to confess and renounce their ties to the group. Alamance politician James E. Boyd did so, convinced 15 other members to follow suit, and named several other Klansmen to the militia. Frightened by the intervention, they submitted signed confessions to the clerk of court in Alamance in the hopes of obtaining amnesty. Boyd continued to supply Holden with information on the Klan throughout the rest of the campaign. Due to the intervention in Alamance and Caswell, Klan activities in both counties promptly ceased.

The arrestees encompassed persons from various social backgrounds, including former United States Congressman John Kerr Jr., the sheriffs of both Alamance and Caswell, and smallholding farmers. Wiley was also apprehended, and had to be subdued by several militiamen after refusing their summons. Detainees were held in the Alamance and Caswell courthouses. The militiamen at times showed poor discipline and used foul language. Conservatives complained about militiamen stealing from local gardens and one stripping naked in public view to bathe, but they did not otherwise bother local residents. Bergen exceeded his orders by stringing up three suspects to extract confessions. The Conservative press eagerly characterized the intervention as a "reign of terror" and widely circulated a report of a stringing incident in Yanceyville. After hearing of it, Holden wrote to Kirk to remind him that, "All prisoners, no matter how guilty they may be supposed to be, should be treated humanely."

Fearing that the Klansmen might try to free captives in Yanceyville, Holden wrote to Grant to ask for federal reinforcements. Grant responded by dispatching six companies. On July 27, Major General George Meade established the temporary military District of North Carolina and placed it under the command of Colonel Henry Jackson Hunt. By the time Hunt assumed his post on 1 August, there were about 700 federal soldiers in the state, stationed in Raleigh, Yanceyville, Graham, Roxboro, and Ruffin. Officers reported that the army presence boosted a sense of security in the insurrectionary counties, but did not apprehend suspected Klansmen themselves. Kirk became increasingly fearful of Klan attack in Caswell and asked for artillery, but the local army commander, Captain George Rodney, thought these concerns were unfounded and dismissed the request. Tensions remained high between militiamen and federal soldiers in the county, with the two forces hurling insults and occasional stones at one another. Rodney dismissed the militia as "nothing more than an armed mob".

On July 22, unknown assailants opened fire on the colored troops of Company H of the 1st North Carolina State Troops encamped at Old Baptist Grove in Raleigh. Sentries returned fire, but no one was hurt. The Conservative and Democratic press in Raleigh used the episode to attack the colored troops, alleging that they had not been attacked and either fired at nothing or shot at another militia company. On August 5, Bergen ordered his men to cross into Orange County and arrest Josiah Turner. He was apprehended at his home and brought to Company Shops before being moved to the Caswell County Courthouse. Turner was the editor of the Raleigh Sentinel and a frequent critic of Holden and his use of the militias. Many Republicans thought he was a Klansmen, though there was little direct evidence of this. Holden had wanted Turner arrested, but only if he had crossed into Alamance or Caswell. Upon hearing of Bergen's excesses, Holden condemned him and Kirk ordered his arrest on August 26. Bergen was detained and jailed in Raleigh under the guard of Company H of the 1st North Carolina State Troops.

### Legal disputes

Almost immediately after the suspected Klansmen were arrested, they began appealing to Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Richmond Mumford Pearson to write writs of habeas corpus for them. Pearson was a Republican and sympathetic Holden's efforts, but recognized that North Carolina's constitution forbade the suspension of the writ and thus saw the failure for these to be issued as unlawful. On July 18 he wrote a writ of habeas corpus and delivered it to Kirk so that the accused could be brought before a court and indicted. Holden ordered Kirk to ignore the writ and then wrote to Pearson, stating that Klan activities in Alamance and Caswell counties constituted insurrection and thus forced him to declare martial law and suspend the writ. He further argued that this was necessary to protect citizens, writing, "the civil Courts are no longer a protection to life, liberty and property; assassination and outrage go unpunished, and the civil magistrates are intimidated and are afraid to perform their functions [...] Thus civil government was crumbling around me." The attorneys of prisoner A. G. Moore suggested that Pearson issue a writ of attachment to a county sheriff to arrest Kirk, but the chief justice refused, fearing such an action would precipitate a civil war-like scenario in Alamance and Caswell. Pearson ultimately acceded to Holden's argument, stating that he had expended all judicial powers available to him. Conservative publications strongly condemned the refusal to respect the writ.

With Pearson declaring his inability to act, the detainees sought the assistance of United States District Court Judge George Washington Brooks. On August 6, Brooks issued a writ of habeas corpus for the detainees, citing the federal Habeas Corpus Act of 1867. Holden was shocked that the federal government would intervene in this fashion and wrote to Grant to request that he overrule the writ, maintaining that the federal judiciary lacked jurisdiction in the state murder cases the arrests principally concerned. Grant gave the letter to United States Attorney General Amos T. Akerman. Secretary Belknap forwarded Akerman's advice to Holden, asking him to accede to the writ issued by Brooks. Holden subsequently ordered Kirk to abide to the writ. The detainees were split into two groups, with the first sent to be heard by Pearson in Raleigh and the second—including Turner, to be seen by Brooks in Salisbury. The state's prosecutorial team in Salisbury did not realize that Brooks would require them to provide evidence of the accused men's possible wrongdoing, and thus Brooks ordered the men released. In Raleigh the prosecutors procured such evidence, resulting in Pearson indicting 49 men and ordering them to be tried in Alamance and Caswell superior courts. None of them were convicted in the ensuing proceedings.

### Elections monitoring

In the week before the elections on August 4, Kirk sent a detachment to monitor the polls in Shelby in Cleveland County. Clarke sent a portion of Company B to Carthage in Moore County, men from Company D to Chapel Hill in Orange County, and a detachment of Company D to Goldsboro in Wayne County. The state elections were conducted peacefully and without incident. The militiamen also allowed the imprisoned Klansmen to cast their ballots. The Democrats scored a major victory, winning back the majority of seats in the General Assembly, while the Republicans garnered 13,000 fewer votes than they had in 1868. Historians have concluded that this was due to Klan intimidation, accusations of financial corruption levied at Republicans, and the view that Holden's deployment of the militias was tyrannical. Republicans were shocked by their loss.

The Republicans' defeat greatly dispirited the militiamen in Raleigh. Early on the morning of August 8, a drunken United States Army soldier stumbled towards the camp at Old Baptist Grove. The militia sentry on duty ordered him to stop and identify himself, and when the soldier failed to heed his warnings, the sentry shot him in the legs. Army officials were infuriated by the incident, but the Raleigh mayor hosted a special hearing and acquitted the sentry of any wrongdoing. Afterwards, the militia camp was moved several blocks. The courts in Alamance and Caswell counties released the last accused Klansmen in late August, effectively ending the campaign. Major General Meade dissolved the District of North Carolina on September 13, and federal forces were gradually dispatched elsewhere. Holden ordered the militias to disband on September 21, but retained a portion of Company H to act as bodyguards for two weeks to forestall any assassination attempts. On November 10, he declared that there was no longer a state of insurrection in Alamance and Caswell counties.

## Aftermath

### Media response

According to McGuire, the Kirk–Holden war was a police operation and not a true war. The term "Kirk–Holden war" or "Holden–Kirk war" (the latter was commonly used in the 1870s) was coined by Holden's Democratic opponents and used as a derisive epithet. No persons were killed during the affair. The Conservative press continued to mock and criticize the militias' performance during the event after they were disbanded, characterizing Kirk and his men as poor, backwards, and barbaric. Republican newspapers came to their defense. The Democratic press accused Holden of deploying the militias as a political maneuver to try to secure a Republican victory in the elections and of acting unlawfully. They also declared that the action was a waste of government funds and omitted any mention of Klan-related violence. The Republican Raleigh-based paper Weekly Standard, edited by Holden's son, attempted to defend the actions of the government by highlighting the Klan's violent actions preceding the affair.

### Legal consequences and Holden's impeachment

On September 1, Turner petitioned the North Carolina Supreme Court to issue warrants for the arrest of Holden, Kirk, and several other militiamen. The court rejected his request, but other former detainees lodged official complaints against Kirk for false arrest. Fearing that Conservative authorities would try to detain him, he asked a United States marshal to arrest him and take him to Raleigh. While passing through Hillsborough he narrowly avoided being seized by the Sheriff of Orange County and a posse. The Raleigh court where he was brought dismissed his case, and on December 1 he fled to Washington, D.C., and found employment as a police officer. Turner later tracked him down but was unable to obtain his arrest.

Meanwhile, Conservatives demanded Holden's impeachment, and on December 9 Orange County legislator Frederick N. Strudwick—himself a Klan leader—introduced eight articles of impeachment in the North Carolina House of Representatives. The first article accused Holden of falsely declaring a state of insurrection in Alamance County to "stir up civil war, and subvert personal and public liberty, and the Constitution of said State". The second article stated the same concerning Caswell County. The last six items concerned various issues, including the unlawful detention of 102 men (namely including Turner), the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, and the misuse of state funds for the militia. The impeachment resolution was referred to the House Judiciary Committee and promptly adopted. On December 19, the House voted 60 to 46 to impeach the governor. Chief Justice Pearson then set about creating a court of impeachment.

In preparation for the impeachment trial scheduled to begin in January 1871, Holden handed over governing authority to Lieutenant Governor Tod Robinson Caldwell. On 23 January Holden's defense team issued the governor's formal response to the articles of impeachment. He defended his decision to proclaim a state of insurrection in Caswell and Alamance counties, arguing it was necessary to protect the lives of citizens, and included a 12-page supplement documenting Klan actions in the Piedmont. His responses to the other articles were shorter, though he maintained that he had acted legally. He also noted that Bergen's decision to arrest Turner was taken without his authorization.

The impeachment trial lasted from January 30 to March 22. The prosecution summoned 61 witnesses, most of whom testified about alleged abuses committed by Kirk and his militiamen. The defense supplied 112 witnesses, most of whom attested to the activities of the Klan in the Piedmont with the aim of demonstrating that an insurrectionary setting existed in Caswell and Alamance. With regards to the other articles, Holden's attorneys argued that the Shoffner Act empowered him to act as he had. The proceedings were mostly orderly, though Holden stormed out after Turner insinuated that he was a "bad man" during his testimony. The North Carolina Senate convened on March 22, to vote on the conviction. Though a simple majority voted in favor of conviction on the first two articles, they lacked the necessary two-thirds majority to pass. Holden was convicted on the other six articles, and the Senate subsequently passed a resolution removing him from office and barring him from holding any other public office in North Carolina in the future. Considering his conviction near-certain, Holden did not attend the vote; he was in Washington, D.C., hoping to meet with Grant to warn him of the ailing status of Reconstruction in his state. He later moved to Washington and briefly worked as a newspaper editor before Grant appointed him as a postmaster in Raleigh. During proceedings taken against men suspected of killing Outlaw in 1873, he publicly came out against their conviction, saying, "Those crimes were not committed in ordinary times [...] I am in favor of amnesty, oblivion, and mercy to the guilty."

During the impeachment trial the General Assembly repealed the Shoffner Act and greatly revised the militia law. Though they subsequently passed a measure prohibiting secret organizations, Klan activity persisted in southwestern North Carolina into 1872. Caldwell, who had assumed the governorship upon Holden's removal, was wary of taking any harsh measures and instead simply made public appeals to reject the Klan. He also relied more on the army to take action, which it did due to encouragement from Congress. Meanwhile, in the latter part of 1872, Judge Albion W. Tourgée issued indictments against 14 to 18 men for the murder of Outlaw. In 1873 the General Assembly passed the Amnesty Act, which pardoned persons found responsible for political violence in the preceding years; the Conservative-backed measure was designed to protect members of the Klan, and ended Tourgée's efforts. Federal military occupation in North Carolina ended in 1877.

## Legacy

Although no Klansmen arrested in the affair were ultimately convicted of any crimes, Klan activity ceased in Alamance and Caswell counties after the Kirk–Holden war. On January 1, 1871, Holden sent Grant a collection of documents including his proclamations, affidavits, trial records, and Klan confessions. Grant turned the documents over to Congress, and the U.S. Senate subsequently appointed a select committee to investigate the events in Alamance and Caswell counties. Testimony about Klan activity in Alamance and Caswell before congressional committees also informed the passage of the Enforcement Act of 1871, and the seriousness of events there convinced Grant to pursue more direct federal action that year.

The Republican Party in North Carolina was crippled by the image of the Kirk–Holden war and Holden's impeachment. Holden was the first governor in the United States to be impeached and removed from office. Caldwell, a Republican, was elected to a full term as governor in 1872, but Democrats retained control of the General Assembly and severely curtailed his influence. Another Republican was not elected to the governorship until 1896. Holden defended his actions in his memoirs (written in 1889/1890 and published posthumously), writing that "the object of all this [was] to restore peace and good order. Every citizen, no matter of what color, or how poor or humble, has a right to labor for a living without being molested; to express his political opinions without let or hindrance; and to be absolutely at peace in his own house." He never sought his impeachment to be pardoned, believing he had never done anything wrong in the affair.

In 1936, the state of North Carolina erected a highway historical marker in front of the Caswell County Courthouse, noting Stephens's murder and its role in sparking the Kirk–Holden war. Another marker was erected in Graham in 2006 to commemorate the event as a whole, near where Outlaw was hanged, though at the behest of the Graham Historical Society, Outlaw was not mentioned on the sign.

In March 2011, after Republicans regained control of the state senate for the first time since the 1800s, Republican State Senator Neal Hunt introduced a resolution to pardon Holden, arguing that he had taken the right course of action and that the legislators who impeached him had nefarious motives. The Caswell County Historical Association lobbied to delay the passage of the resolution, with its president arguing that the impeachment was justifiable due to Holden's illegal actions and that Klan pressure and racial tensions were not a significant factor in the proceedings. A legislative aide placed negative pamphlets about Holden on senators' desks and resigned after being publicly identified. On April 12, the North Carolina Senate convened in a special session in the Capitol Building and voted unanimously to pardon him. The resolution requires approval from the House in order to be put into effect.

Struggle against the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina, U.S.

African-American history of North Carolina

Riots and civil disorder during the Reconstruction Era

Riots and civil disorder in North Carolina


Sonic Adventure

is a 1998 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. It was the first main Sonic the Hedgehog game to feature 3D gameplay. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Big the Cat, and E-102 Gamma in their quests to collect the Chaos Emeralds and stop Doctor Robotnik from unleashing Chaos, an ancient evil. Controlling one of the six characters—each with their own abilities—players complete levels to progress the story. Sonic Adventure retains many elements from prior Sonic games, such as power-ups and the ring-based health system. Players can play minigames such as racing and interact with Chao, a virtual pet.

Sonic Team began developing Sonic Adventure in 1997, after the cancellation of the Sega Saturn game Sonic X-treme. Led by director Takashi Iizuka and producer Yuji Naka, the team strove to reinvent Sonic for the 3D era of video games. Adventure features a stronger emphasis on storytelling and role-playing elements in contrast to previous Sonic games, while Yuji Uekawa redesigned the series's characters for their transition to 3D. Sonic Team attempted to demonstrate the technical process of the Dreamcast with realistic graphics and drew inspiration from locations in Peru and Guatemala. The soundtrack was primarily composed by Jun Senoue, who preferred rock music over the electropop of previous Sonic games.

Following its reveal at the Tokyo International Forum in August 1998, Sonic Adventure was highly anticipated and was released in Japan in December 1998, North America in September 1999, and Europe in October 1999. It received critical acclaim and became the Dreamcast's bestseller, with 2.5 million copies sold by August 2006. Reviewers considered Adventure a major technical advancement and praised the visuals and gameplay. Though critics noted glitches and camera problems, and reactions to the audio were mixed, they considered Sonic Adventure an exceptional game; some speculated that it could help re-establish Sega as the dominant console manufacturer after the unsuccessful Saturn.

Journalists have retrospectively ranked Sonic Adventure among the best Sonic games, and it is recognized as an important release in both the series and the platform genre. Many characters and concepts introduced in Adventure recur in later Sonic games. A sequel, Sonic Adventure 2, was released in 2001. Adventure was ported to the GameCube and Windows in 2003 with altered graphics and more challenges, while a high-definition version was released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2010 and for Windows in 2011. Reviews for these releases were less positive; critics felt the game had not aged well and ran at an inconsistent frame rate.

## Gameplay

Sonic Adventure is a 3D platform game with action and role-playing elements. Players control one of six anthropomorphic protagonists as they venture to defeat Doctor Robotnik and his robot army, who seek the seven magical Chaos Emeralds and the evil entity Chaos. Six player characters are unlocked as the game progresses, each with their own story and attributes. Sonic the Hedgehog performs a spin dash, homing attack, and light-speed dash; Miles "Tails" Prower flies, swims, and attacks robots using his tails; Knuckles the Echidna glides, climbs walls, and punches; Amy Rose can defeat enemies using her hammer; Big the Cat is slow and carries a fishing rod he can cast; and E-102 Gamma can shoot laser beams.

At the start of the game, the player is placed in one of three Adventure Fields, open-ended hub worlds inhabited by advice-giving non-player characters. The player character is guided and instructed by the voice of Tikal the Echidna. Through exploration, the player discovers entrances to levels called Action Stages, some of which must be opened using keys hidden in the Adventure Field. Once the player accesses an Action Stage, they are tasked with a specific objective, which is different for each character. Sonic must reach the level's end like in prior Sonic the Hedgehog games; Tails must reach the end before Sonic; Knuckles must find three hidden shards of the Master Emerald; Amy must solve puzzles and avoid being caught by a robot; Big must fish for his pet frog; and Gamma must fight his way through stages using projectiles as a defense.

Some levels include minigames separate from the main story. These feature different styles of gameplay, among them rail shooting, racing, and sandboarding. Some minigames can only be accessed with particular characters. Fulfilling certain objectives allows the player to obtain bonus items. Unlocked minigames and stages the player has completed can be accessed from a Trial Mode on the title screen.

Like previous Sonic the Hedgehog games, players collect golden rings as a form of health: if the player character is in possession of rings when they are hit by an enemy or other hazard, they will survive, but their rings will scatter and blink before disappearing. Canisters containing power-ups, such as speed shoes, additional rings, invincibility, and protective shields, are also hidden in levels. In several stages, the player engages Robotnik or Chaos in a boss fight and must deplete the boss's health meter to proceed. Each character starts with a limited number of lives, and the player loses a life if the character drowns, gets crushed, or is hit without any rings in their possession. The game ends when the player runs out of lives. Lives can be replenished by collecting 100 rings or a 1-up.

Players may also discover Chao Gardens, hidden, protective environments inhabited by Chao, a virtual pet. Players can hatch, name, and interact with multiple Chao, and they can raise the status of their Chao by giving them small animals, which can be collected by defeating enemies within the Action Stages. The Dreamcast's handheld Visual Memory Unit (VMU) allows the player to download the minigame Chao Adventure, in which their Chao walks through a course to evolve and improve its skills. Evolving one's Chao improves its performance in competitions called Chao Races. Eggs that can produce special types of Chao are hidden throughout the Adventure Fields. Players can earn emblems by playing through Action Stages, searching through the Adventure Fields, or winning Chao Races. Each Action Stage has three emblems that can be earned by replaying the stages and fulfilling objectives, such as beating the level within a time limit.

## Plot

Doctor Robotnik seeks a new way to defeat his longtime nemesis Sonic and conquer the world. During his research, he learns about an entity called Chaos—a creature that, thousands of years ago, helped to protect the Chao and the all-powerful Master Emerald, which balances the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. When a tribe of echidnas sought to steal the power of the Emeralds, breaking the harmony they had with the Chao, Chaos retaliated by using the Emeralds' power to transform into a monstrous beast, Perfect Chaos, and wipe them out. Tikal, a young echidna who befriended Chaos, imprisoned it in the Master Emerald along with herself. Robotnik shatters the Master Emerald to release Chaos and tests the creature's natural form on the city of Station Square.

When Sonic sees local police fail to defeat Chaos, he and Tails work to stop Robotnik from empowering it with the Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles, the only remaining echidna, sets out to find the shards of the Master Emerald and repair it. Robotnik activates a new series of robots, including one named Gamma, and orders them to find Froggy, an amphibian who ate a Chaos Emerald. Froggy's owner, Big, seeks to find him as well. In Station Square, Sonic's friend Amy finds a Flicky being pursued for a Chaos Emerald in its possession and decides to protect it. When both are captured, Amy convinces Gamma not to work for Robotnik; Gamma helps her to escape before seeking out and destroying the other robots in his series, sacrificing himself in the process. Tails, meanwhile, foils Robotnik's contingency plan to destroy Station Square via a missile strike.

Although Sonic disrupts Robotnik's plans, Chaos manages to absorb all the Chaos Emeralds and transforms into Perfect Chaos; it rebels against Robotnik and destroys Station Square. Through flashbacks from Tikal (who was also released from the Master Emerald), Sonic realizes that Chaos has been in constant torment and sorrow and that imprisoning it again will not stop it. He uses the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Sonic and defeats Perfect Chaos. Chaos calms down when it sees the Chao living peacefully in Station Square, and Tikal takes it somewhere safe to live in peace. Afterward, Sonic pursues a fleeing Robotnik.

## Development

### Background

During the early 1990s, Sega was one of the most successful video game companies due to the rise of its Genesis console. Genesis sales were driven by the popularity of Sega's flagship franchise of 2D platform games, Sonic the Hedgehog. During this time, series co-creator Yuji Naka worked with Sega Technical Institute (STI) in the United States to develop Sonic games. After the completion of Sonic & Knuckles in 1994, Naka returned to Japan to work with Sonic Team. STI began developing Sonic X-treme for the Sega Saturn, planned as the first Sonic the Hedgehog game to feature full 3D gameplay. X-treme suffered a series of setbacks and was canceled in 1996. The cancellation is an important factor in the Saturn's commercial failure, leaving it with no original Sonic platform game. Meanwhile, Naka and Sonic Team developed original Saturn games, such as Nights into Dreams (1996).

Naka wanted a 3D Sonic game, but felt that only Sonic Team should undertake the endeavor; his refusal to let STI use the Nights game engine was instrumental in X-treme's cancellation. Due to the lack of Sonic games on the Saturn, according to Retro Gamer, Sonic became part of the "background" by mid-1997, so "it was astonishing to see that, just six years after his debut, Sonic was already retro." Nights into Dreams designer Takashi Iizuka felt that Sonic fans had been let down because Sonic Team was not focusing on the series. Additionally, Kazuyuki Hoshino, who would serve as art director on Sonic Adventure, said he thought during the Saturn era Sonic had become outdated.

### Conception

In August 1996, shortly after the completion of Nights into Dreams, Iizuka proposed Sonic Adventure as a role-playing-style Sonic game with a greater emphasis on storytelling. Sonic Team started to work on it in April 1997 on the Saturn with a 20-strong team. Sonic Team created the first prototype using the Nights engine, but the Saturn's limited capabilities made development difficult. Sega president Hayao Nakayama informed Naka of the Saturn's successor, the Dreamcast, and he believed the new console would allow Sonic Team to create the ultimate Sonic game. When the team learned the Dreamcast was nearing completion, they moved development to take advantage of its greater quantity of RAM, stronger CPU, and the VMU. Not wanting to waste their completed work, they placed it as a bonus in the compilation game Sonic Jam, the final Sonic game for the Saturn. Development on the Dreamcast began in July 1997.

Iizuka served as director on Sonic Adventure, while Naka produced. One of the largest video games created at the time, the team had grown to 60 after 10 months, and over 100 developers worked on the game in total. Sonic Team undertook development in conjunction with the Dreamcast, aiming to release the game in December 1998, even if it meant making improvements after release. Developing Sonic Adventure at the same time as the system, which was not completed until two months before the game's release, gave Iizuka influence over the console's development; for example, he was able to request more RAM for the console specifically for Sonic Adventure. According to former Sega of America producer Mark Subotnick, Naka canceled Geist Force, an on-rails shooter that was planned as a Dreamcast launch game, so he could use its proprietary software for Sonic Adventure.

### Characters and art

Sonic Team felt challenged by the new hardware to recreate Sonic and his world in a new way. They began development using the character designs from the Genesis games, but quickly discovered the characters' bodies were too short and their heads too big, making them difficult to see. Retro game characters, such as Pac-Man, were also being reborn in a more "urban" fashion around the same time, something that made Sonic Team jealous and feel the original character designs were dated. As such, Yuji Uekawa redesigned each character to suit the transition to 3D and to give them "new, edgy, more Western" design. Looking to the animation of Walt Disney and Looney Tunes for inspiration, he made Sonic more mature, taller and slimmer, and gave him longer quills. He darkened his blue color and gave him green irises in reference to Green Hill Zone. Uekawa tried to make Sonic look like a comic book character and compared the style to graffiti. After redesigning Sonic, he made the other characters fit this new art style. Hoshino noted that the characters' longer limbs made it easier to recreate their 2D poses in 3D.

Sonic Adventure features two new playable characters, Big and Gamma. Sonic Team had already implemented an in-game fishing rod with no context or use, leading to the creation of Big. Big was designed to be giant and relaxed so the player would not expect something more intense. Gamma and his playstyle were created in response to fans who wanted elements of a shoot 'em up in Sonic and because of Iizuka's desire to include "some type of satisfying gameplay that couldn't be done with Sonic". Neither Big nor Gamma were intended to play a large role, thus both of their campaigns were short. Iizuka also wanted to create a villain who would have been impossible to make on older hardware. He settled on something liquid and transparent and created Chaos. Iizuka presented the concept to Naka, who was impressed. Chaos was originally intended to have realistic blue scales in his final form, but this was abandoned because of the technological constraints of the Dreamcast.

While some Sonic games, such as 1993's Sonic CD, contained limited voice work, Sonic Adventure was the first Sonic game to feature extensive voice acting. The decision was made early in development as the game was more story-focused than previous Sonic games. Sonic Team's staff had differing opinions about how Sonic should sound. Iizuka recalled that the only element they agreed on was to avoid using an anime voice actor, favoring a film actor with an "over-the-top" voice. Sonic Team cast Jun'ichi Kanemaru as Sonic. In an interview celebrating his 30th anniversary as a voice actor, Kanemaru said one reason he was cast was because of his ability to speak English. After Sonic Team USA was formed, they hired American actors to translate the Japanese script. The English-language voice cast consists of Ryan Drummond as Sonic, Corey Bringas as Tails, Michael McGaharn as Knuckles, Jennifer Douillard as Amy, Jon St. John as Big and E-102 Gamma, and Deem Bristow as Robotnik. Iizuka used Sonic Adventure to introduce Robotnik's Japanese name, "Dr. Eggman", to western audiences; he accomplished this by having Sonic insult Robotnik when they meet for the first time in-game. Similarly, he avoided referring to Tails as "Miles", which he was commonly called in Japan.

Because Sonic Adventure was a Dreamcast launch game, the team strove to demonstrate the console's capabilities with realistic graphics. To achieve a more realistic feel for the environments, the core members of Sonic Team visited temples, jungles, and ancient ruins in Mesoamerican landscapes, including Cancún, Guatemala, and Peru. While Sonic Team members had to draw artwork by hand for games in the past, for Sonic Adventure they were able to use photographs taken during their visits as textures. The greatest influences were the Tikal ruin in Guatemala and Machu Picchu in Peru. The character Tikal was inspired by Peru and took her name from the Guatemalan ruins. The 3D visuals were created using a Voodoo2 graphics chip.

### Design

The levels were designed to feature gameplay similar to the original Genesis games and to take at least five minutes to complete. One of the biggest challenges the Adventure designers faced was transitioning Sonic's 2D style to 3D. In the Genesis Sonic games, the player simply had to go right to reach the end of a level, but in Sonic Adventure they could move in every direction. The designers created models for the stages before testing it as the player character, resulting in trial and error. This made Iizuka realize the importance of the game's camera. Some levels, such as the Lost World, were rebuilt dozens of times. Sonic Team split levels into parts to save memory. One particular difficulty was defeating enemies; in the 2D games, enemies were beaten simply by jumping on them, but this was harder to achieve in a 3D game. Therefore, Sonic was given the ability to target enemies in mid-air.

Iizuka said the cinematic sequences were conceived to take advantage of the environments, "giving the player an element of discovery in addition to the platforming". The team also wanted to add elements unexpected in a platform game; for example, the level in which Tails sandboards was inspired by a group of sandboarders in Ica, Peru. Some levels reference past Sega games, such as Ice Cap (1994's Sonic the Hedgehog 3) and the Tornado levels (1995's Panzer Dragoon). When seeing the completed level designs, Iizuka and Naka decided to repurpose them for other player characters. Iizuka said they felt it would be "a waste if Sonic just quickly ran through the levels that we spent so much time creating". The first characters besides Sonic added to the game were Tails and Knuckles; Tails's stages turned portions of Sonic's levels into races, while Knuckles's treasure-hunting missions were designed as a contrast to the others' straightforward ones. Sonic Adventure was the first time Amy was playable in a Sonic platformer, and Iizuka aimed to use her to add tension, such as hiding from pursuers, that Sonic's gameplay could not offer.

Because Sonic Adventure had a stronger emphasis on storytelling than previous games in the series, the team implemented hub worlds to "draw the players deeper into the world." The hub worlds' emphasis on exploring to find new areas and power-ups was inspired by The Legend of Zelda. When seeing the completed level designs, Iizuka and Naka decided to repurpose them for other player characters. According to Iizuka, the team tried to include as much content as possible. One addition was the Chao-raising system, which Iizuka conceived to take advantage of the VMU. Sonic Team had used a similar virtual pet system, the "A-Life", in Nights into Dreams; Iizuka used the A-Life as a base, while improving it with the VMU and the option to improve its skills. Iizuka hoped it would be made into a character players could touch and raise. It was also designed to appeal to casual gamers not familiar with games like Sonic, and to add replay value. The design took considerable time to finalize and had to be made as simple as possible because the virtual pet's look changes form as it evolves.

### Music

Sonic Adventure's score was primarily composed by Jun Senoue, with additional music by Fumie Kumatani, Kenichi Tokoi, and Masaru Setsumaru. Adventure was Senoue's first project as sound director and its scope meant he had many more responsibilities, including schedule management, compared to his previous games. Despite this, Senoue said he did not feel much pressure, as he was a Sonic fan and had contributed to previous games' soundtracks.

In contrast to previous Sonic games, which featured electropop soundtracks, the Adventure sound team preferred "hot, funky, and rock 'n' roll" music. Iizuka noted that Sonic Team's primary goal with Adventure was "to evoke the essence of Sonic by going from 2D to 3D", and felt the music needed to exceed fan expectations due to previous Sonic soundtracks' popularity. He stated a new style was adopted because the Dreamcast's sound was a significant advance from that of the Genesis; Senoue added he felt more comfortable composing rock music and wanted to create music everyone could enjoy. Despite the different styles, Senoue did retain some music from the Genesis Sonic games: the music for the Windy Valley and Twinkle Park levels were rearranged from Sonic 3D Blast (1996), while the level clear jingle was taken from Sonic 3. He chose to reuse his 3D Blast tracks because he felt they were strong enough to be more widely heard, as they were only used the Genesis version (which was not released in Japan).

Senoue composed several songs with English lyrics to highlight the various characters' personalities, and collaborated with Tokoi and Kumatani to polish them. The main theme, "Open Your Heart", was performed by Hardline's Johnny Gioeli; other songs were performed by Gioeli, Marlon Saunders, Dred Foxx, Ted Poley, Nikki Gregoroff, and Tony Harnell. Sonic Adventure marked Senoue's first collaboration with Gioeli; the two later formed the band Crush 40 (originally known as Sons of Angels), and continue to make music together. Iizuka was inspired to use "Open Your Heart" as the final boss music by films, which he noted often use main themes during dramatic events. Iizuka also felt that the songs helped define Knuckles and Amy's personalities, as they had not received much character development in Sonic games until Adventure.

A two-disc soundtrack, Sonic Adventure "Digi-LOG Conversation" Original Sound Track, was released in Japan in January 1999. In May 2011, the soundtrack was rereleased to commemorate the Sonic franchise's 20th anniversary. A two-volume digital soundtrack was also released on iTunes and Spotify in September 2014 and January 2017, respectively. Brave Wave Productions released a vinyl LP version of the soundtrack including interviews with Senoue and Iizuka in 2018.

## Release

Sonic Adventure was kept a secret during production, though screenshots were leaked in mid-1998 and plans for a 3D Sonic game had long been rumored. It was unveiled by Naka and the rest of Sonic Team on August 22, 1998, at the Tokyo International Forum. The team showed off several dynamic elements, such as a chase sequence from the first level and Tails's sandboarding sequence. The presentation ended with a live performance of "Open Your Heart" alongside a RealVideo clip montage. Naka described the debut as intense, having "[given his] all" to make it fit for release.

On December 23, 1998, Sonic Adventure was released in Japan. The Japanese version shipped with many glitches; according to Iizuka, this was because the game was produced on a tight schedule, so Sonic Team did not have time to fix them. Several members of Sonic Team flew to Sega of America to establish Sonic Team USA and patch and translate the game. Prior to the launch of the Dreamcast in the United States, Sega made an exclusive deal with Hollywood Video to allow customers to rent the Dreamcast console along with a non-retail version of the game, Sonic Adventure: Limited Edition. The promotion began on July 15, 1999, and took place at 1,055 Hollywood Video stores across the country.

The localized version was released in North America on September 9, 1999, as a launch title, and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It includes Japanese and English-language audio tracks, as well as Japanese, English, Spanish, French and German subtitles. Online features—including Chao daycare and downloadable content (DLC) such as minigames and new level assets—were also added. The American release of Studio Pierrot's Sonic the Hedgehog (1996) original video animation coincided with the Western release of Sonic Adventure, while DIC Entertainment's Sonic Underground (1999) was commissioned to help promote the game. The localized version was later released in Japan as Sonic Adventure International.

Before release, Sega projected to sell a million copies of Sonic Adventure. Sonic Adventure is the bestselling Dreamcast game; by August 4, 2006, it had sold 2.5 million copies, including 440,000 in Japan and 1.27 million in the US. In Europe, it sold 86,000 copies during its first five days on sale. In the UK, it was the top selling Dreamcast launch game. After the North American release, there were complaints of a number of Sonic Adventure discs failing to load. Sega of America determined that this was a software problem due to errors at one manufacturing facility and tracked the faulty software. Most copies were unaffected, and customers with defective copies could trade for working ones at retailers.

## Reception

As the first fully 3D Sonic platform game, Sonic Adventure was highly anticipated. It received critical acclaim, and Computer and Video Games (CVG) called it one of the greatest video games of all time. Sonic Adventure won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award in the "Favorite Sega Dreamcast Game" category, and it was a runner-up for GameSpot's annual "Best Console Platform Game" award, which went to Rayman 2: The Great Escape (1999). The game was a finalist for "Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering" for the 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, which went to Unreal Tournament.

The visuals and presentation attracted wide acclaim. Arcade magazine described it as a "quantum leap forward" in aesthetics and visual detail in video games, and Hyper estimated they even exceeded what was possible on high-end personal computers. IGN called it the most graphically impressive platform game released up to that date, praising its cinematic sequences and describing it as "engrossing, demanding, and utterly awe-inspiring". GameSpot agreed and said only Soulcalibur's graphical quality surpassed that of Sonic Adventure. Edge felt the graphical features showed off the Dreamcast's potential to the fullest and that the game was "perfect" as a showcase for the system.

The audio received mixed responses. GameSpot and Game Revolution called the full-motion video (FMV) cutscenes and voice acting well-produced and fitting, though GameSpot noted poor lip-synching. IGN thought the cutscenes were repetitive and voiced strong disapproval of the voice acting, declaring it "a complete joke" and "downright awful". IGN had a particular distaste for Tails's voice, and retrospectively called it among the most annoying to feature in a video game. AllGame was conflicted; they appreciated Tails's portrayal but found Sonic's and Knuckles's voices unfitting. GameSpot and AllGame praised the rock-style music, but Game Revolution described the score as "absolutely horrible".

The gameplay was generally praised. GameSpot admired the straightforward, linear approach to the 3D platform genre and particularly praised it for keeping the basic gameplay of the original Genesis games. IGN said the game would keep players busy even after completion, noting its internet connectivity and other extras. On the other hand, Game Revolution said apart from being quicker, it did not advance the platform genre's design. Retrospectively, 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die called its environments vast and twisted, stating it "brilliantly" captured traditional Sonic elements. The Chao minigame was noted as a major departure from the gameplay of the series. GameSpot wrote that "while really just a diversion", the Chao were an interesting, fun addition, singling out their internet functions as a highlight. AllGame said the Chao helped increase the replay value, although it was "strange", required patience, and did not provide bonuses in the main game. Game Revolution called the Chao "a neat addition" and praised its use of the VMU.

Some critics compared Sonic Adventure to Super Mario 64—Nintendo's "groundbreaking" 1996 game that propelled the Nintendo 64 and the 3D platform genre. Edge said Sonic Adventure was a worthy rival to Super Mario 64, but AllGame wrote that Sonic Adventure was not as ambitious and that those looking for exploration would be disappointed with its linear gameplay. They compared it to the similarly linear Crash Bandicoot but felt Sonic Adventure was more confined. Still, they praised the gameplay as varied and said its replay value was strong. Game journalists Rusel DeMaria and Johnny L. Wilson retrospectively wrote Sonic Adventure was not as strong as Super Mario 64 and "failed to catch on with players in nearly the way that [Mario] had done", though it had fascinating features, such as "the use of the Tamagotchi-like memory card to incubate eggs for little pet creatures" and "some good action segments".

The camera system and glitches were criticized by many reviewers. IGN called the camera "incredibly" frustrating and inconsistent, and GameSpot noted it caused problems with collision detection. Edge complained the camera sometimes goes behind walls. Authors from GamesRadar retrospectively wrote that Sonic Adventure was "horrendously buggy", singling out falling through floors and getting stuck, but also said the sheer amount of content made up for this.

GameSpot thought Sonic Adventure redefined the possibilities of the platform genre, and according to CVG, "many things you thought were impossible to see and experience in computer games are now here". According to Next Generation, "Expert gamers may beat the game in only a day or two but, even then, the ride is worth the price of admission." AllGame wrote that the game was an impressive showing of the Dreamcast's potential and that it was among the best of the series. Edge said its criticisms such as scenery pop-up and instances of poor collision detection are "minor flaws in an otherwise very fine piece of work". Arcade and CVG speculated the game could save the Dreamcast, which had not sold well by the end of 1998. CVG also thought it could re-establish Sega as the dominant console manufacturer after the relatively unsuccessful Saturn.

## Rereleases

### Sonic Adventure DX

In 2001, Sega announced it would transition from a first-party to a third-party software publisher, in response to the international failures of the Saturn and Dreamcast. Wanting to reach new players by creating an enhanced version of one of its older games, in June 2003 Sega released Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, a port of Sonic Adventure for the GameCube and Windows. While mostly identical to the original release, Sonic Adventure DX features updated graphics, including updated textures and more detailed character models, aims for a frame rate of 60 instead of 30, and sports a redesigned Chao-raising system that uses connectivity with the Game Boy Advance (GBA). It includes 60 new missions and the option to unlock emulations of all 12 Sonic games released for the Game Gear. Additionally, Metal Sonic can be unlocked as a playable character if all 130 emblems are collected. These features were added to appeal to players of the original game.

Sonic Adventure DX received mixed reviews. GameSpot was disappointed the rerelease did not address the problems of the original version, irritated the graphics were only marginally different, and dissatisfied with its collision detection. GameSpot offered some praise for the extra features, such as the missions, but concluded players were better off playing the Dreamcast version. IGN agreed, calling it "a sloppy port of a game that has long been undeserving of its high praise." IGN noted its frequent frame rate drops and described its camera one of the worst in a video game. IGN said the connectivity to the GBA Sonic games added depth but concluded this was not enough to compensate for the port's problems. Nintendo World Report was more positive, praising the Game Gear games for retaining their multiplayer support and finding Sonic and Tails’ gameplay enjoyable.

### HD version

In September 2010, Sega rereleased Sonic Adventure as a downloadable game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, followed by a Windows release in March 2011 via Steam. This version is based on Sonic Adventure DX and supports high-definition visuals at a 4:3 aspect ratio. Sonic Adventure DX's additional content was removed, but the mission mode and Metal Sonic can be reimplemented by purchasing additional DLC. The game was also included in the Dreamcast Collection compilation in 2011 and is backwards-compatible with the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Reviews of the 2010 rerelease were generally unfavorable, with criticism directed at the perceived lack of effort put into the port. IGN called it "so fundamentally flawed that it borders on unplayable", observing that the sections that worked best required the least input from the player. IGN criticized the lack of widescreen support but offered minor praise for its steady frame rate. 1UP.com lambasted the port for what they called its slapdash quality, criticizing its display, controls, and dated design, and saying that it "feels like it wasn't even tuned for the Xbox 360 controller and its analog sticks." Destructoid was less harsh, writing that fans of the franchise would be able to enjoy the game but warning casual players that "all you'll find is a relic that was once considered greatness."

## Legacy

With most contemporary 3D platform games focusing on exploration and collecting items, Sonic Adventure stood out with its linear gameplay. According to GamesRadar, as one of the first sixth-generation console games, it changed the industry "forever". Joystiq wrote that both Adventure and the original Sonic the Hedgehog had innovated—in 3D and 2D games, respectively—through effective linear level design and by feeling "good to play". In 2009, GamePro listed Sonic Adventure as the seventh-best platform game of all time, saying that it had not aged well in certain aspects but that its core gameplay remained among the best of the Sonic series. Several journalists ranked the game among the series's best, but Kotaku argued the addition of voice acting and greater focus on plot changed Sonic into "a flat, lifeless husk of a character, who spits out slogans and generally has only one personality mode, the radical attitude dude, the sad recycled image of vague '90s cultural concept".

Many of Sonic Adventure's designs and concepts were reused in later Sonic games. The direction, basic gameplay, and Uekawa's modernized character designs became series staples. The first level in the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog reboot heavily references Sonic Adventure's Emerald Coast stage. To celebrate the Sonic series's 20th anniversary in 2011, Sega released Sonic Generations, which reused aspects from past games in the franchise. The Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows versions contain reimagined versions of the Speed Highway level and the Perfect Chaos boss fight, and the Nintendo 3DS version contains a remake of Emerald Coast.

Several characters that first appeared in Sonic Adventure appeared in later games. As well as appearing in Sonic Generations, Chaos is an antagonist in the 2017 entry Sonic Forces; it and Gamma are playable characters in the 2004 fighting game Sonic Battle; and a recreation of its boss fight appears in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. The Chao creatures also feature predominantly in later games. One of the characters introduced in Adventure, Big the Cat, became infamous for his negative reception. Game Informer considered his gameplay painful and boring, while Destructoid decried his portrayal as a "mentally handicapped imbecile" and his voice actor's incoherent performance. Big is widely considered by video game journalists the worst character in the Sonic franchise, and was named one of the worst game characters in a poll conducted by 1UP.com.

On October 4, 1999, Sega announced that a sequel to Sonic Adventure was in development. Sonic Adventure 2 made its debut at E3 2000 and was released in June 2001. The sequel was designed to be more action-oriented than the slower-paced, story-centric Adventure and to give all the characters equal playtime. Like its predecessor, Sonic Adventure 2 received positive reviews. A concept for Sonic Adventure 3 was reworked into the 2008 game Sonic Unleashed. In 2017, Iizuka stated there were no plans for a third Sonic Adventure game, saying it would not advance the series's design. He did not rule out the idea, saying "If we can get the gameplay to evolve and get to a place where Adventure 3 makes sense, then you might see an Adventure 3 come out". In December 2018, Iizuka expressed interest in remaking Sonic Adventure.

The plot of Sonic Adventure was adapted in the second season of the 2003 Sonic the Hedgehog anime series Sonic X. American licensing corporation 4Kids Entertainment hired a new voice cast for the English-language dub but the Japanese cast from the games reprised their roles in the original version of the show. Archie Comics also adapted the game in its Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series. The comic offered an explanation for the altered character designs and established that Station Square was hidden beneath Sonic's planet, Mobius.

1998 video game