What causes social unrest?
Shortages
What causes social unrest?
Over 100,000 people packed into Richmond by 1863.
Meat and bread were hard to come by on the open market, and merchants sold it at highly inflated prices. In mid-March, an explosion at the Confederate Ordnance Laboratory on Brown’s Island killed nearly 50 workers.
Discontent mounted.
Images
1. Hungry people craving a morsel.
2. Police as warriors.
1. Hungry people craving a morsel.
2. Police as warriors.
How do people respond to hardship?
Organizing
How do people respond to hardship?
Richmond’s working class women--many of whom had suffered in the Ordnance Lab explosion--met in the working class neighborhood of Oregon Hill on April 1, 1863, to plan.
They would go to downtown Richmond’s and demand the government force merchants to sell food at fair prices--or they would take it by force.
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3. The view from Oregon Hill.
4. Protesters over the police killing of Marcus-David Peters in 2018 called for a new relationship between policing and people having mental crises.
3. The view from Oregon Hill.
4. Protesters over the police killing of Marcus-David Peters in 2018 called for a new relationship between policing and people having mental crises.
What action do you take?
Gathering
What action do you take?
Desperate women gathered on April 2 at the George Washington monument on the statehouse grounds to carry out their scheme. There, one protestor told an onlooker that, “we celebrate our right to live.”
The women decided to seek help from Virginia governor John Letcher first.
His response did not satisfy them.
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5. Virginia’s Washington Monument on the state capitol grounds, 1865.
6. Demonstrators in Richmond, VA on June 2, 2020.
5. Virginia’s Washington Monument on the state capitol grounds, 1865.
6. Demonstrators in Richmond, VA on June 2, 2020.
What happens when your pleas for justice are frustrated?
Overflowing
What happens when your plea for justice is frustrated?
After being rebuffed by the governor, the women moved south to Richmond’s Main Street business district where they ransacked stores.
Images
9. A lampoon of the female rioters in Richmond.
10. Broad Street in Richmond, VA., March 31, 2020.
9. A lampoon of the female rioters in Richmond.
10. Broad Street in Richmond, VA., March 31, 2020.
What opposition does your protest face?
Suppression
What opposition does your protest face?
Richmond’s mayor, Virginia’s governor, and Jefferson Davis himself all showed up to harangue the rioters and threaten the use of military force.
The crowd dispersed.
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11. Richmond cannons.
12. Richmond Police on Broad Street.
11. Richmond cannons.
12. Richmond Police on Broad Street.
How widespread is the problem?
Not Alone
How widespread is the problem?
Destitution plagued the Confederacy. In spontaneous grassroots uprisings, poor women gathered in places like Salisbury, North Carolina; Columbus, Georgia; and Mobile, Alabama to demand affordable food—or to take it by force.
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7. Report of raid in Salisbury, North Carolina.
8. Arlington, Virginia, June 2, 2020.
7. Report of raid in Salisbury, North Carolina.
8. Arlington, Virginia, June 2, 2020.
Is there a legitimate way to protest?
Argument
Is there a legitimate way to protest?
Critics of the rioters called them “Irish and Yankee hags” only out to loot jewelry.
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13. The Richmond Examiner’s opinion, April 4th, 1863.
14. A Facebook opinion June 10, 2020.
13. The Richmond Examiner’s opinion, April 4th, 1863.
14. A Facebook opinion June 10, 2020.
Do protests get results? Are they enough?
Some Solution
Do protests get results? Are they enough?
When Richmonders protested their hardship and oppression, they faced the power of the state and social condemnation. But through their courage, they forced authorities to concede the bare minimum.
The city of Richmond established a special price-controlled market to sell affordable food—but only for the “meritorious poor.”
Was it enough? Was it justice?
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15. A Richmond market.
16. After protestors confronted Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney on June 2, 2020, he conceded to the creation of a #MarcusAlert on June 3.