Unrest against the Liberation of Slaves in New York City (1834)

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The unrest against the abolition of slavery in New York City were riots in New York that took place in four consecutive nights from 7 July 1834th

causes

The unrest was brought about by a combination of various causes. One of the reasons was the movement of nativism , in which Protestant members of the population that dominated New York's trade and commerce, the indigenous , feared foreign infiltration by mostly Catholic Irish immigrants after the British authorities had cleared their emigration in 1827. Another reason was a growing opposition to the to the abolition of slavery in the United States fighting abolitionists free and the fear of growing immigration Schwarzer into the city.

procedure

The opponents of the abolitionists disrupted their gatherings at the beginning of the unrest. Offices, business premises and homes of opponents of slavery were also attacked and looted, for example the home of Joshua Leavitt , the manager of the American Anti-Slavery Society . Other attacks were aimed at African American churches and homes .

The riots, in which up to 4,000 people took part, were spurred on by flyers on which, among other things, the names and addresses of abolitionists were published. On July 11, 1834, the Mayor of New York, Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence , called on the army, which was reinforced by volunteers. The seriousness of the operation was underlined by the issue of live ammunition. After this relief operation to support the police, the city became quiet again.

literature

  • Michael Feldberg: The Turbulent Era. Riot and Disorder in Jacksonian America . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford 1980, ISBN 0-19-502677-2 .
  • Neil Smith: Revolution: New York in Revolt, 1765-1783. In the same, Don Mitchell, Erin Siodmak, JenJoy Roybal, Marnie Brady, Brendan P. O'Malley (Eds.): Revolting New York: How 400 Years of Riot, Rebellion, Uprising, and Revolution Shaped a City. University of Georgia Press, Athens 2018, ISBN 9780820352817 , pp. 49-70; here: pp. 66–68 (= The Anti-abolitionist Riots, 1834 ).