Know-Nothing Riot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. This article has been tagged since December 2006. (help) |
The Know-Nothing Riot was a politically-charged 1857 riot in Washington, D.C.
On June 1, 1857, a band of American Party rowdies traveled by train from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. to assist local party members in controlling the polls at a municipal election. The band included members of the Plug Uglies, Rip Raps, and Shiffler Fire Company from Philadelphia. After word of their arrival spread and rioting began at several polls, President James Buchanan called out United States Marines from the Navy Yard to quell the fighting. At one of the polls, the Marines clashed with citizens, most of them Washingtonians. They opened fire, killing ten men, only one from Baltimore. The violence drew sharp condemnation of Buchanan's resort to military force, but resulted in no significant criminal prosecutions. The bloody event soon became lost in the larger controversy over slavery and largely forgotten.
[edit] References
- Melton, Tracy Matthew. Hanging Henry Gambrill: The Violent Career of Baltimore's Plug Uglies, 1854-1860 (2005)
