Author: Charles River Editors
Narrator: Daniel Houle
Unabridged: 1 hr 57 min
Format: Digital Audiobook
Publisher: Findaway Voices
Published: 02/27/2021
Riots are an aspect of American history that do not show up much in history textbooks, except for famous disturbances like the Boston Tea Party or the infamous New York City draft riots of 1863. The reality is that the country has experienced thousands of riots, from early colonial times through to the present, and the issues leading up to some of the riots may seem quite peculiar to modern Americans. Americans have rioted over who was the best actor, and to free pirates from jail. Americans have rioted against bad working conditions, for the 8-hour day, against immigrants, for and against civil rights. Americans have had riots over eggnog, which Bible to use in schools, and when their favorite sports teams have won, and lost.
The riots discussed in this work are just as weird as any others in American history. The 1857 Dead Rabbits Riot featured gang violence in New York City, but it could only be understood by knowing about a previous police riot, and that for a time there were two separate police forces in New York City. The police were as apt to club each other as they were to club rioting gang members.
The 1863 Richmond Bread Riot was unusual in that the riot consisted of angry women, many of whom worked not only in Confederate war industries, sewing uniforms, but also making ammunition and working at the Tredegar Iron Works. Needless to say, that doesn’t fit so well with the Southern belle stereotype.
The comically named Battle of Fort Fizzle was a combination of riot and rebellion. It took place in rural Ohio and was an act of resistance against the severe 1863 Conscription Act. Men could pay $300 to purchase an exemption or hire a substitute, and poor men who couldn’t do so understandably didn’t like the law. A thousand gathered in a sort of fort and faced off against veteran troops with fixed bayonets, leading to a surreal confrontation.
In the 1600s, cotton and silk fabrics that bore colorful and exotic printed patterns, known as “calico,” were flying off the shelves of the East India Company’s stores. The rapidly escalating demand for calico had taken a visible ...
Explore the captivating life of Andrew Jackson!When Jackson left the White House after two presidential terms, he had achieved a rare feat: He left office with even more popularity than when he first entered it. His reputation as a strong president ...
Explore the captivating life of Martin Van Buren History chiefly remembers Martin Van Buren as the eighth president of the United States (1837- 1841). He was also, however, notable for achieving many firsts in American politics. He was th...
Many of the first artists in the West were assigned to exploration and geological parties, working as archivists and obedient to demands of cold accuracy. However, a few were driven by an imaginative mix of real events and fantastical visions to whe...
By the golden age of the mountain man in the mid-19th-century, there were perhaps only 3,000 living in the West. Their origins were disparate, although they included many Anglo-Americans. A good number hailed from wilderness regions of Kentucky and...
During the Civil War, over 180,000 black men fought in volunteer units as part of the United States Colored Troop (USCT), but it was only after the end of it that they were allowed to enlist in the Regular Army. They did so in four segregated regime...
By the second half of the 19th century, still less than a century old, the United States had become a regional power. It had soundly defeated its southern neighbor, Mexico, and greatly enlarged itself in the process. America’s navy and mercha...
In 1804, President Jefferson asked two Virginians-Meriwether Lewis and William Clark-to lead an expedition into the unexplored wilderness of North America. The journals of these explorers are both a priceless piece of national history and a great ad...
Many of the first artists in the West were assigned to exploration and geological parties, working as archivists and obedient to demands of cold accuracy. However, a few were driven by an imaginative mix of real events and fantastical visions to wh...