Mobbed

JOANNE: But first, let’s travel back to the 1770s and 1780s. In the first decades of the New Republic, Americans were basically protesting all the time. And some of those protests were peaceful, but some of them were most definitely not peaceful. A few years ago, we did a show on the history of populism in America. BackStory host, Peter Oniff, talked to historian, Paul Gilenya, about how early Americans rioted over pretty much everything. Gilenya began by describing a protest over a seemingly innocuous issue in 1774 Massachusetts, smallpox vaccinations.

PAUL: We all think a smallpox vaccination means as being a major medical innovation, and that this is occurring in the 18th century. The problem was is that, vaccination, in these days, was to get a small case of the smallpox. You essentially cut your skin and you put a little pustule and then you get a mild case, well then you become contagious. And so, what you’ll have, and right on the eve of the Revolutionary War, you have people throwing rocks and demonstrating against the richer people who could afford an inoculation for fear that people who get inoculated, who have carried the disease and spread the disease–

PETER: That’s a great point. So, there is a class dimension to this, Paul?

PAUL: Yes. And they felt that the government should step in and prevent this sort of inoculation, and instead of the government, the crowd stepped in.

PETER: Where politics fails, according to the people that get angry, and they demand action.

PAUL: Right. essentially, the magistrates, who would be the local officials in a community, like Marblehead, were not preventing these poor people from getting vaccinated. So, the people got frustrated with the magistrates– who, by the way, were rich people, who might be getting vaccinated themselves– So, what do you do? You don’t want to catch smallpox, and so people rushed in the street, demonstrated, tear down a couple of outbuildings connected to these rich people. They did things that they thought were going to protect them from infection.

PETER: Paul, this is a fascinating example of a smallpox riots. But mobbs were rioting throughout this period, culminating in the revolution. But rioting didn’t stop just because Americans won their independence, did it?

PAUL: No. Rioting continues. And if you were to ask me, and I say this with a winse on my face– what is my favorite all time riot? And I say that because–

PETER: You don’t condone them, I understand that.

PAUL: Rioting is a violent– can often be a violent activity. And, of course, the riot I’m thinking about– or the series of riots I’m thinking about are the Baltimore Riots of 1812. And the Baltimore Riots of 1812 began where there was a newspaper, which was publishing articles against the entry of the United States into the War of 1812. And the people of Baltimore felt that this violated the community’s interest, and so they go to this office and they tear the building down.

PETER: How about free speech, Paul?

PAUL: Free speech.

PETER: Freedom of the press.

PAUL: Well, that’s the point, isn’t it? The community felt there shouldn’t be free speech, if you’re imposing this war, which, eventually, a small group of militia intruded themselves, and they take these people who had published this newspaper and they put them in jail for safekeeping. And then, the next night, the mob attacks the jail. And the mayor, who supports the war, steps in front of the mob and he says to the mob, you know, guys, you can’t do this, you can’t break into the jail. And somebody turns to him and says, Mayor Johnson, I know you very well– so he was identifying this kind of political personal connection– he says, there are times when the laws of the land must sleep and the laws of nature and reason prevail. And then the crowd bursts into the jail, and there is no reason. They tear these guys apart, they beat these people to a pulp, they take penknives and stick it into their cheeks, and they take hot candle grease and drip it in their eyes. And one guy, who is being held in the jail, who had been a Revolutionary War general says, gentlemen, gentlemen, stop, stop, you can’t do this. And they just beat him to a pulp and he’s killed.

Well, what I’m trying to suggest is that, the Baltimore Riots represent a transition from an 18th century form of rioting to a 19th century form of rioting in which riots become increasingly violent.

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JOANNE: That was University of Oklahoma historian, Paul Gilenya, in a 2015 interview with BackStory host Peter Onuf.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I think that as Paul Gilenya suggests, over time, writing becomes– and just mob violence– becomes more violent. And, you know, there’s a whole literature. There’s a lot of historians who’ve written about the fact that there’s kind of a ritualistic element to early, early American protests, like pre-revolutionary protests that people would expect a bunch of people to go into the street and be angry about something, and then do something very targeted. You know, like, we’re mad at the press, so we shall go and hurt the press. And then parade around a little bit and maybe burn in effigy and then go home.

BRIAN: What strikes me about both of the protests that Gilenya talked about is that, they, quite literally, involve life and death matters. In the case of smallpox, these people understood that they could die from this disease. In the case of 1812, you’re talking about being willing to sacrifice one’s life to go to war in what became known as the War of 1812. And I have to feel that the matter being protested has something to do with the degree of violence unleashed.

JOANNE: Yeah, no, I think that’s a really good point. And I think it’s an example of that would be one of the more famous acts of protest during the Revolutionary period, which is what we now call the Boston Tea Party, which was a protest against attacks on tea. And a group of people in Boston decided that they would go onto these ships where tea was waiting to be unloaded into the harbor and that they would destroy this tea, and make a statement about the fact that they were not going to pay this tax. So they were making– I mean, it was a strong statement, and they were, essentially–

BRIAN: It was strong tea.

JOANNE: Well, it became kind of weak tea, in the water, in the ocean, it was wimpy tea. But, the point is, that was a really targeted, controlled act of protest, so that people went on board they really didn’t want to damage the ships, they really didn’t want to do any harm to anything.

BRIAN: Are you serious?

JOANNE: Supposedly they swept the decks of the ships when they were done, so they didn’t leave a mess behind. And I think they were worried about hurting the locks– the padlocks– to the hatches. It’s a strong statement and it’s a dangerous act, but they just want to register protest, they actually don’t want to do damage.

BRIAN: But it’s not a life and death matter. Ultimately, it’s an economic matter, which is important.

JOANNE: Exactly. Exactly. So there’s risk involved. And I guess, I don’t want to suggest that early protests are quaint and that somehow they then become violent. I think it’s actually– but anyway, I guess I do think– the larger point here seems to me that, yes, I do think rioting and violence of this sort becomes more violent, but in saying that, I don’t want to suggest that the earlier violence is quaint. I think another example of that– and this will be a true confession from an early American historian– you know, you read forever about the practice of tarring and feathering. But when you actually get down to the nitty gritty details of what that is, it’s brutal, it’s nasty, it’s hot tar being poured onto people and then feathers being put on top. But that hot tar often takes the skin with it. You know, I mean, it a nasty, horrible, burning, disfiguring thing. So, again, as much as you can see well that’s very ritualistic, you know, tarring and feathering, it’s brutal too.

BRIAN: It’s pretty violent.

JOANNE: Yes. Very violent. So there’s like a spectrum, maybe. And, as Brian suggested, maybe it really is pegged in part to the nature of what’s being protested and the groupness of it.

PETER: So, we’re going to have to take a quick break. But when we get back, we’re going to talk about how Southern women wage their own war during the Civil War. And I bet you, dollars to donuts, they did not clean up after themselves.

JOANNE: OK, Brian, I want you to do something for me. I want you to close your eyes.

BRIAN: Both of them?

JOANNE: Both eyes.

BRIAN: All right, the second one just shut.

JOANNE: Thank you very much. OK. Now, I want you to think of somebody who you really care about.

BRIAN: All right.

JOANNE: And now, I want you to tell them something very personal right here on the air. I want you to tell them a podcast that you just know they would absolutely love.

BRIAN: Oh, that’s such a setup, Joanne– BackStory of course.

JOANNE: Of course. Of course.

BRIAN: But I also have a few more. I love Amicus, I love Slate’s Political Gab Fest. I confess, I love Cereal and I love this American Life.

JOANNE: There are so many good shows out there. I mean, that’s just a great example. And that’s why all this month, we’re going to be asking you to tell a friend about BackStory or any other podcast that you love, because we all know people who just don’t get podcasts, or how to find one that they like, or even just how to find them at all.

BRIAN: I have trouble finding a friend.

JOANNE: Oh, Brian, I’m your friend.

BRIAN: Thank you, Joanne.

JOANNE: And it’s easy, when you have friends. You could tell them about your favorite podcast in person, or you can tell us about what you recommend to them by going on social media and using the hashtag tripod. T-R-Y-P-O-D. Thanks for spreading the word.

BRIAN: I’m typing as you speak, Joanne.

JOANNE: Good.