History, Natural History & the Arts
On Friday, August 18th, 1871, “The Riot at Ogdensburg” was the New-York Tribune’s title for its detailed review on the rapid rise of an Irish mob three days earlier – which the paper labeled “a formidable riotous element” – in the small, quiet port of Ogdensburg on the St. Lawrence River.
For two days, the mob’s threat of violence, and violence itself, was so intense that the mayor deputized nearly 100 men to restore law and order. [Read more…] about The Riot in Ogdensburg, 1871
The July 4th, 1965 weekend in Lake George Village culminated in riots in which 350 youths were arrested, at least according to the newspapers of the day.
Two hundred police officers were required to keep “the Bermuda clad, barefooted, out-of-state college kids” under control, one newspaper stated.
That was not the first Lake George youth riot, nor would it be the last. [Read more…] about July 4th Riots in Lake George: Some History
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In 1844 America was in a state of deep unrest, grappling with xenophobia, racial, and ethnic tension on a national scale that feels singular to our time, but echoes the earliest anti-immigrant sentiments of the country.
In that year Philadelphia was set aflame by a group of Protestant ideologues — avowed nativists — who were seeking social and political power rallied by charisma and fear of the Irish immigrant menace. [Read more…] about Fires of Philadelphia: A New Book On The 1844 Nativist Riots
In the 19th century extremely violent conflicts took place between mostly Northern Irish Protestants (Orangemen) and Irish Catholics. The Orange Riot of 1870 began on July 12 (known as Marching Day in Northern Ireland), when a parade was held in Manhattan by Irish Protestants celebrating the victory at the Battle of the Boyne of William III, the King of England and Prince of Orange, over James II in 1690. [Read more…] about The Orange Riots of 1870 and 1871
In September of 1862, President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation. It would take effect January 1, 1863, and free slaves in areas of the nation still in rebellion against the Union. Despite its limitations, free blacks, slaves, and abolitionists across the country hailed it as one of the most important actions toward full abolition.
To immigrant New Yorkers (principally Irish) the Emancipation Proclamation was confirmation of their worst fears – that they would be replaced in the labor market by recently emancipated blacks from the South. [Read more…] about The New York City Draft Riots of 1863
Not much has been written about this civil disturbance that occurred on the afternoon of August 12, 1862 when Irish and German stevedores protested against local dock bosses, demanding increased pay for their work, and preventing others from working however when police responded the rioters overpowered them and Chief Dullard and other members of the force injured.
Ultimately the police regained control of the situation with gunfire wounding two rioters and arresting the ring leaders. [Read more…] about Buffalo’s Dug’s Dive Riot of 1863
Unlike most of riots reviewed in this ongoing series, which pitted civilians against civilians and interventions by police or militia forces to restore order, a June 16, 1857 riot was a battle between the forces of the recently dissolved New York Municipal Police and the newly formed Metropolitan Police. [Read more…] about The New York City Police Riot of 1857
This conflict occurred on May 10, 1849 at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City. When it was over an estimated lay 25 people lay dead and more than 120 injured when militiamen fired into an unruly crowd that had gathered in front of this theatre. Incredibly, the riot was triggered by the appearance at this venue of a famous British Shakespearean actor, William Charles Macready. It seems that he was as involved in a bitter rivalry with an American actor, Edwin Forrest, and each man was revered by a contingent of diehard fans. [Read more…] about The Astor Place Riot/Shakespeare Riots of 1849
Generally speaking, riots tend to happen on hot summer days but the Flour Riot erupted on a cold winter night in February of 1837. The attack on warehouses was sparked by a fear that food was being hoarded by wealthy merchants in lower Manhattan and people in the lower classes might face starvation.
In reality, the rumors which inflamed the crowd were greatly exaggerated, lasted about a day and the vandalism which resulted was fairly minor, especially when compared to such later disturbances such as the Astor Place Riot or the colossal Draft Riots. Nonetheless, the Flour Riot was a significant affair because it underscored a growing divide in the city between New York’s prosperous merchant class and a quickly growing lower class of newly arrived Irish immigrants. The riot was also memorable because new method of communication, the “penny press,” had helped to inflame tensions. These cheap newspapers, widely available to the poor, had spread dangerous rumors and provoked a mob to attack a warehouse where flour was stored. [Read more…] about The Flour Riot of 1837
The origins of this civil disturbance began in early February of 1788 and broke out in mid April of that year. Actually the City’s doctors did not riot as the name implies. However, it had its origins in the illegal procurement of corpses of free blacks and slaves and poor whites by doctors and medical students at an unaccredited surgical training school in lower Manhattan led by Richard Bailey, a Connecticut-born doctor who had studied in London.
Apparently it was expensive and almost impossible for the school to provide corpses for its teaching purposes and the professors and students resorted to stealing them from nearby Trinity Church yard and other local cemeteries including the one for people of color then known the “Negro Burying Ground” [Read more…] about Grave Robbing And The Doctors Riot of 1788