A detail from a broadside in the NHS collection.
During the Dorr Rebellion of 1842, there was no shortage of seething resentments between politicians, landed farmers, mill owners and reformers. The Royal Charter of 1663 needed an update in the face of urban industrialization, calls for expanded suffrage and waves of immigrant labor, which didn’t sit well with an entrenched and corrupt General Assembly. Hundreds of antagonistic broadsides, pamphlets and souvenirs were produced at the time addressing constitutional reform and defaming elected officials.
On Wednesday September 4, 2013 the Society will host the lecture The People’s Martyr: Thomas Wilson Dorr and His 1842 Rhode Island Rebellion with author Erik Chaput. For details click here.