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Psewick
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Username: Psewick

Post Number: 35
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 70.235.110.46
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 - 11:51 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Could someone provide links to some information about the riot(s) of 1863? I'm not having luck finding anything, and I already did a search on this forum. Thanks!
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Kova
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Username: Kova

Post Number: 44
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 63.77.247.130
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 - 11:57 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

www.umich.edu/~historyj/pages_ folder/ articles/Racial_Rhetoric.pdf
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Hornwrecker
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Username: Hornwrecker

Post Number: 1320
Registered: 04-2005
Posted From: 66.2.148.131
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 - 12:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Not much on the web"


quote:

...a letter about the 1863 riot in Detroit written by abolitionist John A. Warren. The riot was sparked by a false accusation that a black man had assaulted two girls, one black, one white. An angry mob of whites attacked black people, homes and businesses in the city. The Free Press, then the Democratic Free Press, fanned the flames of racism that left hundreds of blacks homeless and two people dead.



From a cached Free Press book review.

Mentioned in this paper, and bibliography:

PRESERVING THE PEACE ORDER AND DISORDER IN CIVIL WAR PHILADELPHIA
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Neilr
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Username: Neilr

Post Number: 300
Registered: 06-2005
Posted From: 68.60.139.212
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 - 1:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I don't have a link; but the book American Odyssey (Robert Conot, 1974) devotes several pages to the riot of 1863. One interesting fact, Robert and Frances Pelham had to flee the city for their family's safety. Their decendents, Benjamin (the "Czar of Wayne County") and Alfred Pelham (City Controller under Cavanagh) went on to positions of great power and influence.
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Psewick
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Username: Psewick

Post Number: 36
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 70.235.110.46
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 - 3:45 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks to everyone for the information... It all tarnishes my view of humanity, but it's interesting in any case....
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Hornwrecker
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Username: Hornwrecker

Post Number: 1321
Registered: 04-2005
Posted From: 66.19.24.155
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 - 4:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

A little more info from the Detroit Almanac which I'll have to type in:


quote:

Stirred into a racist frenzy by what critics called the Negro-phobic Free Press, crowds of white people gathered in front of city hall on March 6 to await the verdict in the trial of William Faulkner, a black man accused of molesting two girls, one white and one black. He was convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison. Soldiers escorted Faulkner to the jail at Beaubien near Gratiot, but as a crowd of thousands surged toward them, the soldiers fired killing one person.

The mob then attacked the nearby black neighborhood, assaulting black residents along Beaubien, St Antoine, Fort, and Lafayette. One man died. Rioters burned some 30 buildings and the crowd urged firefighters not to put water on the homes of blacks.

Years later, the girls admitted that they had lied; Faulkner was released after serving five years.


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Dougw
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Username: Dougw

Post Number: 1228
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 136.2.1.101
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 - 6:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

This was nothing compared to the Riots of 1642.

But on a more serious note, wasn't the black population in Detroit pretty tiny in 1863? Say, 3% or less? It seems odd that a riot could get started over such a small group. Although I suppose this type of incident was probably not that uncommon in the U.S. in the 1800's.
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Rugbyman
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Username: Rugbyman

Post Number: 56
Registered: 06-2005
Posted From: 24.210.106.215
Posted on Saturday, July 15, 2006 - 2:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Remember that Lincoln had just made the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone in the Union was excited about the idea of freeing slaves and giving them rights as US citizens. I believe Indiana actually threatened to secede from the Union as a result of the Proclamation.

At any rate, fanning the flames of ignorance could easily result in thing like a mob targeting a small percentage of the population.
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Dave
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Username: Dave

Post Number: 99
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 71.244.219.154
Posted on Sunday, July 16, 2006 - 11:25 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If you look at the rosters for the 1st Michigan Colored Infantry, raised in Detroit in 1863 and 1864, it seems there was a significant black presence in Detroit, and outstate Michigan at the time.
http://www.michiganinthewar.or g/infantry/1stcol.htm
dave
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 2443
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 4.229.72.112
Posted on Sunday, July 16, 2006 - 11:49 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Psewick.... good lord if that tarnishes your view on humanity... then don't read up on WWI and WWII (among many many others)....
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Rasputin
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Username: Rasputin

Post Number: 3744
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 68.74.31.233
Posted on Sunday, July 16, 2006 - 12:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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