by Maggie Joyce
Recently, the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota has been rocked by civil unrest over the death of 46-year-old George Floyd, an African American man killed by police. While the Black Lives Matter movement has been active since its beginning in 2014, more current acts of police brutality have sparked protests in all 50 states, as well as other countries. Some of these protests have ended with riots against the police, which has caused the entire movement to come under fire for being “violent”. While riots can cause damage to cities and property, they almost always bring change. Compiled below is a list of five riots and what they achieved in the United States.
1773: The Boston Tea Party
In the 1760s through the 1770s, the British government was deep in debt. To solve this problem, King George III imposed many taxes on the American colonies, such as the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts. These acts angered the colonial people, as they were being taxed without any say in the British Parliament. After several years of unfair taxation, the British government imposed the Tea Act. The Tea Act stated that the British East India Company could sell tea to the American colonies duty-free, but would still be able to tax the American people who bought it. Angry at the new decree, colonists organized and refused to purchase the tea. However, the Governor of Massachusetts would not allow the ships to return to Britain until the tea was unloaded and the tax paid. On December 16th, a large group of men assembled. Dressed as Native Americans, they boarded the ships Dartmouth, Beaver, and Eleanor of the British East India Company’s fleet and tossed nearly 90,000 pounds of tea into the harbor. It is estimated that the Boston Tea Party resulted in $1,000,000 of damage. In response, King George III passed the Coercive Acts, which closed the Boston Harbor until the tea lost was paid for, terminated the Massachusetts Constitution and free elections of officials, and allocated judicial power to Britain. These laws enraged colonists and inspired them to continue resisting British rule. More tea-dumping demonstrations occurred throughout the colonies. United towards the goal of independence, representatives of all thirteen colonies except Georgia met and wrote the Declaration of Resolves. The Declaration called for the repeal of the Coercive Acts, stated colonies had the right to govern independently, and issued a formal boycott of British goods. When the British parliament failed to repeal the Coercive Acts, colonial anger grew. In 1775, the Battle of Lexington and Concord began the American Revolutionary War, which later won the American colonies their independence. The Boston Tea Party was an act of rebellion against an unjust government that sparked the fight for independence in the United States.
1886: The Haymarket Riot
The 1880s were a time of poor working conditions and low wages in the United States. Labor protests were common and often met with police brutality. On May 3, a worker strike was organized at the McCormick Reaper Works. Chicago police opened fire on the strike, killing and injuring several workers at the rally. Enraged, labor unionists and anarchists organized a protest against police brutality at Haymarket Square. Word of the McCormick killings spread rapidly, and on May 4, approximately 2,000 workers gather at the Haymarket Square rally. When police forces came to disperse the protesters, an unknown individual threw a bomb at the police. The police opened fire on the crowd. At least one civilian and seven police officers were killed in the riots. Though there was no evidence to support their conviction, eight men were charged with the throwing of the bomb. Seven were sentenced to death, and only four were hanged. One other committed suicide the night before his execution. The remaining three were pardoned in 1893. The Knights of Labor were accused of conspiring with the perpetrator. Because of the bad press, the KOL dissolved and reformed as the American Federation of Labor. The AFL, along with other organizations, continued to protest against poor conditions and discrimination in the workplace. The labor movement resulted in the establishment of eight-hour workdays and the abolishing of child labor, as well as calling for the ending of workplace discrimination. The Haymarket Riots acted as a catalyst for the movement and, in turn, created better job conditions for working-class people then and now.
1967: The Detroit Riot
The Detroit Riot is one of the bloodiest in American history, with 43 recorded deaths. Before the riot, Detroit was rocked by racial tensions. One of the biggest issues facing African-Americans in Detroit was unemployment. Deindustrialization created a massive loss in industrial job opportunities, which disproportionately affected the black community. Housing discrimination forced African-Americans to live in poor neighborhoods of the city, and gentrification strove to eliminate communities in which black people had thrived in the past. Police brutality was also common, with many black people being subjected to random searches without warrants, beatings, and racial profiling. On July 23, a small welcome-home party was held for two Vietnam veterans at an after-hours bar. The police raided the function and arrested all 82 patrons. Onlookers began protesting the arrest. The protest quickly escalated into a riot as property was vandalized, businesses were looted, and fires were started. The riot lasted for five days, and it ended when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent U.S. troops into the city to stop the violence. The Detroit Riot is considered a catalyst for the Black Power movement, which fought for economic equality, racial pride, and cultural and political institutions for African-Americans.
1969: The Stonewall Riots
The 1960s were a difficult time for members of the LGBTQ+ community in the United States. As of 1969, homosexuality was still classified as a mental illness and was a criminal offense in most states. Many gay and transgender people continued to meet in secret, mostly in gay bars and repurposed speakeasies. The Stonewall Inn in New York City was a popular hotspot for the LGBTQ+ community, especially for drag queens, as many gay bars would decline entry to those in drag. Owned by the Genovese crime family, the Stonewall Inn was typically avoided by police, as the owners bribed the local officers to ignore homosexual activity in the bar. However, on the morning of June 28th, police officers raided the bar unexpectedly. 13 people were arrested. Instead of dispersing, patrons stood outside of the bar as the situation grew more agitated. A woman who is thought to be Storme Delarverie, a black butch lesbian, was arrested. She continually escaped the hands of police officers and was hit over the head with a baton before being shoved into the police vehicle. Before entering the car, she called out for the bystanders to act. Onlookers threw pennies, cobblestones, and bottles at the police. The situation soon escalated into a full-blown riot. The police barricaded themselves inside the bar as patrons continued to throw objects at them. Marsha P. Johnson, a black transgender woman, was thought to have thrown the first brick at Stonewall. The riots ended five days later. The next year, thousands marched from Stonewall to Central Park in the first known pride parade. While the riots at Stonewall did not start the gay rights movement, it did call attention to the injustices LGBTQ+ people were facing in America.
1970: The Kent State Riot
The late 1960s and early 1970s were a time of unrest for American citizens. The country was divided over U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Many believed that the United States should withdraw from the Southeast Asian conflict, which was the main campaign promise of Richard Nixon. In 1970, it appeared that his promise would be fulfilled, until he ordered the invasion of Cambodia without the approval of Congress or his own Secretary of State. The announcement that U.S. troops had entered Cambodia further sparked tensions as anti-war protests began around the country. At Kent State University in Ohio, protests began the day after the invasion. For three days, police and protesters scuffled, resulting in the National Guard began summoned to the protests. On May 4, protests began peacefully. The National Guard was ordered to begin firing tear gas into the crowd to contain the protest. Protesters were herded to a nearby football field, which was enclosed by a fence. Protesters threw rocks at the Guardsmen until they began to retreat. As they were retreating, some 28 turned around and fired shots into the air and the crowd. Four people were killed, and nine were injured. Outrage spread across the nation, and school strikes began to shut down universities. The deaths turned public opinion of many Americans against the war, and some historians cite the incident as the beginning of the downfall of President Richard Nixon.
This list is only a compilation of some riots that made a change in America. Many riots end with little change created. However, no riot goes unnoticed. It is impossible to ignore a cause that has the public rising for it. Yes, riots cause damage to important infrastructure. Yes, riots can be destructive. Yes, riots do create unrest. Still, riots will always draw attention to a cause, and they will always force a government to, at the very least, act. Riots are a simple way to call attention to a social issue when peaceful protesting has failed to do so.
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