US History of Riots and Protests

When individuals and groups have difficulties that require a rescue or bail-out, riots and protests are attempted to extort some relief. Some of these are valid, like wages owed. Some of these are the result of ups and downs in the economy or natural disasters. Some of these are invalid or are scams that should be exposed and rejected. Most of our current riots and protests are scams. 

Riots and protests are chronicled over the centuries and have been used to communicate exasperation over crop failures, government abuse and disputes between individuals and groups. In some cases wide-spread grievances have caused insurrection, revolution and the overthrow of governments. These governments have reacted by putting down the rebellion to end violence. But many governments have acquiesced to the mobs’ demands to “keep the peace”, even if the mob’s demands are invalid. This transfers responsibility from individuals to governments and results in special interest bureaucracies. 

In the post-revolutionary war in 1700s, there were protests over taxes, currency soldier’s pay and grave robbing. Government was being formed, was in debt, preoccupied and unresponsive. 6 events were listed.

In the 1800s, blacks were attacked, there were anti-slavery protests, state border disputes, crop failures, bank failures, bouts of inflation, immigration, unemployment, wages, property disputes, bank failures, prohibition and religion.

Many of these riots have names that don’t reveal what the riot was about. The “Know Nothing” movement was a white Protestant vigilante movement that confronted immigrants, blacks and Catholics.

In the 1870s, labor union strikes entered the list of violent riots and persisted through the 1930s.

In the 1960s, the US lost sight of individual responsibilities and falsely placed the blame for everything on “society”. This has encouraged a culture of lawlessness that has infected our politicians who have run up a $20 trillion National Debt and $120 trillion in unfunded liabilities.

18th century – 1783-1799. Having won the Revolutionary War in 1783, the 13 colonies were free from British rule. The US Constitution was adopted in 1789.  The war debt in 1783 was $43 million. By 1800 US debt was $83 million. Each colony had issued currency and in 1775 the Congress issued the “Continental”.  The US Dollar was issued in 1792 and included gold and silver coins. There were 6 riots listed from 1783 to 1799.
1783 – PA Mutiny, soldiers had not been paid.
1870–1879 – issues included competition for jobs, religion, race, Democrats vs Republicans, Confederate veterans, union worker strikes and wage cuts. The Panic of 1873-1877 resulted in bank failures. Unions entered the scene in 1877 and added violent strikes to the mix. Unions needed a crashed economy to get workers to join. There were 92 riots listed from 1800-1899.
Communists began to foster discontent, infiltrated Congress and the Courts and supported unconstitutional land seizure and the establishment of Yellowstone National Park in 1872 without a ratified Amendment.    .

1786 – Shays' Rebellion MA over taxes imposed.

1786 -  Paper Money Riot, NH over hyperinflation.

1788 – Doctors Mob Riot, NYC over grave robbing.

1791–  Whiskey Rebellion, PA excise tax on whiskey.

1799 – Fries Rebellion, PA Tax revolt.

19th century – 1800-1899. Having established the US government, the US was expanding territories and in 1803 purchased the Louisiana Territory from France. In 1815 the US won the War of 1812 against the British. In 1845 Texas becomes a State. In 1848 the US won the Mexican War. In 1865 the US won the Civil War.  The US won the Indian Wars that started in 1600 in 1870.  From 1800 to 1870 citizen initiated violence shifted to pro-slavery vs anti-slavery, border disputes, bank failures, vigilante actions, disputes between groups, inflation, Catholics vs Protestants, Republicans vs Democrats, employed vs unemployed. sinners vs church-goers. farmers vs ranchers, moonshiners vs revenuers, alcoholics vs battered wives. draft dodgers, voters vs non-voters, blacks vs whites, 

20^th Century 1900-1999. The US had succeeded in the Industrial Revolution and the standard of living was about to rise with electricity, sanitary sewers, chlorinated clean water, penicillin, the end of plagues , running water, indoor plumbing, automobiles, airplanes, telephones, refrigerators, air conditioning, clothes washers and dryers, dishwashers, radio microwave cookers television and other appliances and tools. Foreign Wars were ahead including World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Advances in electronics allowed for cell phones, personal computers, internet replacing libraries, books and newspapers, satellite communication, electronic banking and electronically controlled utilities.

Communists in Congress partnered with business and banking to abandon the Laws of Ecomonics and create the Federal Reserve in 1913 to establish a Socialist centrally planned economy to grow government subsidies. Most riots were Marxist inspired union strikes and victim riots. There were 92 riots listed from 1900-1999.

21^st Century 2000-2019. The US now has smartphones with cameras, gps and internet connectivity, flat screen TV and music streaming replacing CDs. The US in a political battle between Liberal Socialists attempting to lead LGBT, black socialists, illegal immigrants and welfare migrants to support suicidal amounts of government debt and capitalists leading conservatives who want to secure the borders, end illegal immigration, welfare migrants and cut government spending. There were 47 riots listed from 2000-2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_incidents_of_civil_unrest_in_the_United_States

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader