Regulator Movement in North Carolina

Social and political rebellion in North Carolina

Regulator Movement

Governor Tryon and the Regulators; engraving by A. Bollet Co.
| Date| 1766 – 1771

|

Location|

Central North Carolina

Result|  Colonial government victory
Belligerents
Province of North Carolina|  Regulators
Commanders and leaders
William Tryon
Hugh Waddell|  Herman Husband
Benjamin Merrill (POW)
James Hunter
Strength
1,500|  ~2,300

* v
* t
* e

Regulator Movement

* Yadkin River
* Alamance

The Regulator Movement in North Carolina, also known as the Regulator Insurrection, War of Regulation, and War of the Regulation, was an uprising in Provincial North Carolina from 1766 to 1771 in which citizens took up arms against colonial officials who they viewed as corrupt. Historians such as John Spencer Bassett argue that the Regulators did not wish to change the form or principle of their government, but simply wanted to make the colony's political process more equal. They wanted better economic conditions for everyone, instead of a system that heavily benefited the colonial officials and their network of plantation owners mainly near the coast. Bassett interprets the events of the late 1760s in Orange and surrounding counties as "...a peasants' rising, a popular upheaval."[1][2][3]

## Causes of rebellion

[edit]

### Population increase and new settlers arrive

[edit]

The western region of Provincial North Carolina experienced dramatic population growth in the 1760s. Thousands of colonists arrived from the eastern districts seeking greater opportunities. The inland section of the colonies had once been predominantly composed of planters with an agricultural economy. Merchants and lawyers began to move west, upsetting the social and political structure. They were joined by new Scots-Irish immigrants, who populated the backcountry.

### Economic depression

[edit]

At the same time, the local inland agricultural community suffered from a deep economic depression because of severe droughts throughout the previous decade. The loss of crops cost farmers their food source as well as their primary means of income, which led many to rely on the goods being brought by newly arrived merchants. Due to income loss, the local planters often fell into debt. The merchants, in turn, relied on lawyers and the court to settle disputes. Debts were common at the time, and from 1755 to 1765, the cases brought to the docket increased nearly sixteen-fold, from seven annually to 111 in Orange County, North Carolina, alone.[4]

### Class war and political corruption

[edit]

Such court cases could often lead to planters losing their homes and property, so they grew to resent the presence of the newcomers. The shift in population and politics eventually led to an imbalance within the colony's courthouses, and the new and well-educated lawyers used their superior knowledge of the law to their sometimes unjust advantage. A small clique of wealthy officials formed an exclusive inner circle in charge of the legal affairs of the area. The group was seen as a "courthouse ring" made up of officials who grabbed most of the political power for themselves.[5] The abuse of the justice system was exacerbated by the tax-collecting local sheriffs supported by the courts. In many cases, the sheriffs and the courts held sole control over their local regions. Historian William S. Powell writes that these local officials were perceived to be "unjust and dishonest", having engaged in extortion, embezzlement, and other schemes to benefit themselves.[6]

One early protest was the Nutbush Address, given by George Sims on June 6, 1765. George was from Nutbush (later Williamsboro, North Carolina). This address was a protest about provincial and county officials and the fees they charged residents of Granville County. This later led to the "Regulator Movement" in North Carolina.[7]

### Regulators organize and arrival of Governor Tryon

[edit]

In 1764, several thousand people from North Carolina, mainly from Orange, Granville, and Anson counties in the western region, were dissatisfied with the wealthy North Carolina officials, whom they considered cruel, arbitrary, tyrannical and corrupt. With the arrival of Royal Governor William Tryon in 1765,[6] volatile conditions in North Carolina increasingly worsened. Many of the officers were greedy and often would band together with other local officials for their own personal gain. The entire system depended on the integrity of local officials, many of whom engaged in extortion; taxes collected often enriched the tax collectors directly. The system was endorsed by Governor Tryon, who feared losing the support of the various county officials.[citation needed]

The effort to eliminate the system of government became known as the Regulator Uprising, War of the Regulation, or the Regulator War. The most heavily affected areas were said to be those of Rowan, Anson, Orange, Granville, Cumberland, and Dobbs counties.[6] It was a struggle between mostly lower-class citizens, who made up the majority of the backcountry population of North and South Carolina, and the wealthy planter elite, who comprised about 5% of the population but maintained almost total control of the government.[citation needed]

The stated primary aim of the Regulators was to form an honest government and reduce taxation. The wealthy businessmen/politicians who ruled North Carolina saw it as a threat to their power. Ultimately, they brought in the militia to crush the rebellion and hanged its leaders. It is estimated that out of the 8,000 people living in Orange County at the time, some 6,000 to 7,000 supported the Regulators.[citation needed]

## Regulator leadership under Herman Husband

[edit]

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Herman Husband became one of the unofficial leaders of the Regulators. Husband was from Maryland, born into a Quaker family. One of the major flaws in Husband's campaign was he tried to invite good relations with the eastern regions of North Carolina, mostly unaffected by the issues with local sheriffs. Husband retained very little control over the Regulators, who generally went against his policies of winning over public sentiment and committed acts of minor violence at regular intervals.

Another Regulator leader was James Hunter. He refused to take command of the Regulators after Husband's departure before the Battle of Alamance. Captain Benjamin Merrill had about 300 men under his control and would have assumed control over military leadership after James Hunter, but he was unable to serve in the Battle of Alamance.

## Anti-Regulator forces

[edit]

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Governor Arthur Dobbs, who wrote such popular works as Trade and Improvement of H'elend and Captain Middleton's Defense, served as the Royal Governor of North Carolina until his death in 1765. William Tryon succeeded him. Tryon had a lavish home built in 1770 in New Bern. This was resented by the Regulators, who were already paying substantial taxes. William (The Regulator) Butler was quoted as saying, "We are determined not to pay the Tax for the next three years, for the Edifice or Governor's House, nor will we pay for it."

Governor Josiah Martin succeeded Governor Tryon in office just after the end of the rebellion. His policies eased the burden on former Regulators and allowed them to be assimilated back into society. Edmund Fanning was the main opposition to the Regulators. A graduate of Yale College, he was generally regarded by his friends as well-disciplined and firm. He held many political offices in Orange County. He was once found guilty of embezzling money (along with Francis Nash) but was fined only one penny per charge.

## Events

[edit]

### Breaking up the provincial court

[edit]

North Carolina's colonial court met in Hillsborough. On September 24, 1770, the Regulators entered Hillsborough, broke up the court, and dragged those they saw as corrupt officials through the streets.[8] The mob attempted to have the judge try the cases that were pending against several Regulator leaders, including Husband. The presiding Judge Richard Henderson quickly adjourned the court until the next morning to avoid being forced to make a ruling in the presence of an angry mob of Regulators, and escaped in the night. The Regulators rioted, destroying public and private property alike. Fanning was among the lawyers beaten, found after taking refuge in a shop neighboring the courthouse. According to Judge Henderson, Fanning's beating was so severe that "one of his eyes was almost beaten out."[4] The courthouse was systematically and symbolically vandalized. Human waste was placed on the judge's seat, and the body of a long deceased slave was placed upon the lawyers' bar. The mob continued to destroy shops and property in the town, and ultimately brought their destruction to Fanning's personal residence. After destroying all of the furniture and drinking all of his alcohol, they picked apart his entire house. Henderson's barn, along with his stables and home, were burned to the ground.[9] They cracked the church bell of the Church of England but stopped short of looting the church.[8]

### Documents

[edit]

There were several different publications and petitions circulated to promote the end of taxation and other issues. A number of influential members of the area communities signed the Regulator Advertisement and the Regulator Petition, of which there were several versions of each. Each document identified concerns and issues relevant to the Regulator Movement. The terms Regulation and Regulator were introduced in the Regulator Advertisement in 1768.[10]

### Battle of Alamance

[edit]

See also: Battle of Alamance and Alamance Battleground

While small acts of violence had been taking place for some time, mainly out of resentment, the first organized conflict was in Mecklenburg County in 1765. Settlers in the region, who were there illegally, forced away surveyors of the region assigned with designating land. Minor clashes followed for the next several years in almost every western county, but the only true battle of the movement was the Battle of Alamance on May 16, 1771.[citation needed]

Governor Tryon and his forces, which numbered just over 1,000, with roughly 150 officers, arrived at Hillsborough on May 9, 1771. At the same time, General Hugh Waddell, supporting the governor, en route with a contingent of 236 militia, was met by a large contingent of Regulators under the leadership of Captain Benjamin Merrill. Realizing his force was outnumbered, he fell back to Salisbury. Two days later, on May 11, 1771, having received word of the retreat from a messenger, Tryon sent the force to support General Waddell. He intentionally chose a path which would lead his forces through Regulator territory. By May 14, 1771, his militia troops had reached Alamance and set up camp. Leaving about 70 men behind to guard the position, he moved the remainder of his force, slightly under 1,000 men and 8 cannons, to find the Regulators.[citation needed]

About 10 miles (16 km) away, a force of approximately 2,000 Regulators (by some accounts, 6,000),[8] was gathered mainly as a display of force and not a standing army. The general Regulator strategy was to scare the governor with a show of superior numbers in order to force the governor to give in to their demands.[citation needed] On May 16, 1771, along the Salisbury-Hillsborough Road Tryon met the Regulators with 1,000 men and 8 cannons. After ordering them to disperse and waiting for an hour they opened fire with cannons and muskets on to the crowd. The battle lasted 2 hours and involved 1% of the North Carolinian population at the time and most of its prominent people. The battle was over with nine deaths for the governor's forces and about 100 killed and 200 wounded on the Regulator side. Afterwards Tryon conducted a campaign of terror against the population and hanged outlaw Regulators, burned people's homes, and forced oaths out of the population. Six Regulators were rapidly tried and hanged for their part in the uprising.

## Aftermath

[edit]

Following the battle, Tryon's militia army traveled through Regulator territory, where he had Regulators and Regulator sympathizers sign loyalty oaths and destroyed the properties of the most active Regulators. He also raised taxes to pay for his militia's defeat of the Regulators.[8]

At the time of their defeat at Alamance, public opinion was decidedly against the Regulators. They were seen as "lawless desperadoes," and Governor Tryon was praised for his actions in stamping out the rebellion.[11] As news articles spread the word of his victory, Tryon was branded a hero of the colonies for defeating the larger group of Regulators with his small, well prepared militia. However, as the initial excitement over the battle died down, many newsmen, especially in the Boston area, began to question the reasons behind the rebellion and investigated further. Several reasons were found to regard the destruction of the Regulators as an act of an oppressive government. Most particularly admonished were the methods Tryon had used to win the battle. The use of a riot act and the execution of rebellion leaders after the battle was frowned upon. Reports also indicated that battlefield misconduct had taken place on the governor's side, including giving the farmers a one-hour warning period before the battle began, and subsequently breaking that agreement to bombard them with artillery fire.[11]

Despite the government's victory over the militia, the rule of law continued to languish in western North Carolina in years after the battle at Alamance. Records indicate the district court in Salisbury ceased to convene after 1770 and the court in Hillsborough only met twice in 1772 and never thereafter.[12] Many of the main leaders remained in hiding until 1772, when they were no longer considered outlaws. Many Regulators moved further west into places such as Tennessee, notably establishing both the Watauga Association in 1772 and the State of Franklin in 1784. After 1775, many of the ex-Regulators who remained in North Carolina became Loyalists and opposed the American Revolution.[3]

## Regulation in South Carolina

[edit]

Main article: Regulator Movement in South Carolina

In the late 1760s the neighboring South Carolina colony also had regulators, albeit with very different goals. They were wealthy land owners who had grievances. However their main problems stemmed not from corruption, but from widespread crime and weak law enforcement, as well as a lack of representation and of government-provided services such as courts and churches. These regulators were highly successful.[13][14]

## In popular culture

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* The Regulators are featured as important characters in Jimmy Carter's historical novel The Hornet's Nest (2003).
* Diana Gabaldon features the Battle of Alamance as a significant event in her historical time-travel novel The Fiery Cross, the fifth book in the Outlander series. The battle was featured in the 7th episode of Season 5 of Outlander (TV series).

## See also

[edit]

* Vigilantism in the United States of America
* Regulator Movement in South Carolina
* Gideon Gibson Jr.

## References

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1. ^ Bassett, John Spencer (1867–1928) (1895). "The Regulators of North Carolina (1765–1771)". Washington: Govt. Print. Off.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. ^ Hugh Talmage Lefler, and Albert Ray Newsome, North Carolina: the history of a Southern State (2nd ed. U of North Carolina Press, 1963) pp. 161–178. online
3. ^ a b William A. Link, North Carolina: Change and Tradition in a Southern State (Wiley, 2018), pp. 88–93, 106.
4. ^ a b Whittenburg, James (1977). "Planters, merchants, and lawyers: Social change and the origins of the North Carolina regulation". The William and Mary Quarterly. 34 (2): 215–238\. doi:10.2307/1925314. JSTOR 1925314.
5. ^ Norris, David A. (2006). "Courthouse Ring". NCPedia. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
6. ^ a b c Powell, William S. (1975). The War of the Regulation and The Battle of Alamance, May 16, 1771. Raleigh Division of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.
7. ^ Mitchell, Thorton W. (2006). "Nutbush Address". NCPedia. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
8. ^ a b c d Bishir, Catherine (2005). North Carolina Architecture. UNC Press. pp. 55–56\. ISBN 9780807856246.
9. ^ Hudson, Arthur Palmer (1947). "Songs of the North Carolina regulators". The William and Mary Quarterly. 4 (4): 470–485\. doi:10.2307/1919637. JSTOR 1919637.
10. ^ Polk, W.R. and Polk, W.R. (2007) The Birth of America: From Before Columbus to the Revolution. HarperCollins. p 359.
11. ^ a b Parkinson, Robert G. (2007). An astonishing account of civil war in North Carolina: Rethinking the newspaper response to the battle of Alamance. Journalism History. pp. 223–230.
12. ^ Nelson 2010, pp. 2191–2192, 2194.
13. ^ Richard Maxwell Brown,.  Strain of Violence: Historical Studies of American Violence and Vigilantism (Oxford UP, 1975) pp. 67–90.
14. ^ Rachel N. Klein, "Ordering the Backcountry: The South Carolina Regulation" William and Mary Quarterly 38 (4): 661–680.

## Works cited

[edit]

* Nelson, William E. (2010). "Politicizing the Courts and Undermining the Law: A Legal History of Colonial North Carolina, 1660-1775". North Carolina Law Review. 88 (6): 2133–2197.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Brown, Richard Maxwell. The South Carolina Regulators: The Story of the First American Vigilante Movement. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1963, a major scholarly history.
* Brown, Richard Maxwell.  Strain of Violence: Historical Studies of American Violence and Vigilantism (Oxford UP, 1975) pp. 67–90.
* Gross, David (ed.) We Won't Pay!: A Tax Resistance Reader ISBN 1-4348-9825-3 pp. 77–79
* Hamilton, Jon Jay. Herman Husband: Penman of the Regulation. Graduate thesis. Wake Forest University, 1969.
* Hooker, Richard J. Hooker, ed. The [South] Carolina Backcountry on the Eve of the Revolution: The Journal and Other Writings of Charles Woodmason, Anglican Itinerant. 1953. ISBN 978-0-8078-4035-1. Also contains information on North Carolina conditions.
* Johnson, D. Andrew. “The Regulation Reconsidered: Shared Grievances in the Colonial Carolinas” South Carolina Historical Magazine 114#2, (2013), pp. 132–54. online
* Kars, Marjoleine. Breaking Loose Together: The Regulator Rebellion in Pre-Revolutionary North Carolina. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002, a major scholarly history.
* Kay, Marvin L. M. "The North Carolina Regulation, 1766–1776: A Class Conflict." In The American Revolution: Explorations in the History of American Radicalism, edited by Alfred F. Young. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1976.
* Kay, Marvin L. M., and Lorin Lee Cary. "Class, Mobility, and Conflict in North Carolina on the Eve of the Revolution." In The Southern Experience in the American Revolution, edited by Jeffrey J. Crow and Larry E. Tise. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1978.
* Klein, Rachel N. Unification of a Slave State: The Rise of the Planter Class in the South Carolina Backcountry, 1760–1808. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1990.
* Lefler, Hugh Talmage, and Albert Ray Newsome. North Carolina: the history of a Southern State (2nd ed. U of North Carolina Press, 1963) online
* Nelson, Lynn A. "Historiographical Conversations about the Backcountry: Politics." Journal of Backcountry Studies. Vol II, No. 2 (Fall 2007)[1]
* Powell, William S., James K. Huhta, and Thomas J. Farnham (eds). The Regulators in North Carolina: A Documentary History. Raleigh: State Dept. of Archives and History, 1971.
* Stewart, Cory Joe, "The Affairs of Boston in the North Carolina Backcountry during the American Revolution" (PhD dissertation, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2010. 3418839).online
* Troxler, Carole Watterson. "Farming Dissenters: The Regulator Movement in Piedmont North Carolina." North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, 2011.
* Whittenburg, James Penn. Backwoods Revolutionaries: Social Context and Constitutional Theories of the North Carolina Regulators, 1765–1771. Graduate thesis. University of Georgia, 1974.

## External links

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* Early American Review Summer/Fall 2009
* Chapter II, Blood Shed on the Alamance in Sketches of North Carolina, Historical and Biographical, Illustrative of the Principles of a Portion of Her Early Settlers by Rev. William Henry Foote, 1846.
* Resolves of the Regulators in Chapter II, Watauga - Its Settlement and Government, in The Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century by J. G. M. Ramsey, 1853.

* v
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* e

Colonial conflicts involving the English/British Empire

17th
century|

* Ireland (1593–1603)
* Virginia (1609–1646)
* Swally (1612)
* Hormuz (1622)
* Saint Kitts (1626)
* Quebec (1628)
* Pequot War (1634–1638)
* Irish Rebellion (1641)
* Confederate War (1641–1653)
* Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653)
* Acadia (1654–1667)
* Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660)
* Jamaica (1655–1739)
* 1st Tangier (1662)
* 2nd Tangier (1664)
* King Philip's War (1675–1678)
* Child's War (1686–1690)
* Siam (1687)
* Williamite War (1688–1691)
* King William's War (1688–1697)
* Ghana (1694–1700)

18th
century|

* Queen Anne's War (1702–1713)
* Tuscarora War (1711–1715)
* Yamasee War (1715–1717)
* Father Rale's War/Dummer's War (1722–1725)
* War of Jenkins' Ear (1740–1742)
* King George's War (1744–1748)
* Carnatic wars (1746–1763)
* Nova Scotia (1749–1755)
* French and Indian War (1754–1763)
* Seven Years' War (1756–1763)
* Bengal War (1756–1765)
* Anglo-Cherokee War (1758–1761)
* Jamaica (1762)
* Anglo-Spanish War (1762–1763)
* Pontiac's War (1763–1766)
* Regulator Movement in North Carolina (1765–1771)
* First Carib War (1769–1773)
* Rohilkhand (1773–1774)
* Lord Dunmore's War (1774)
* American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)
* First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782)
* Second Anglo-Mysore War (1779–1784)
* Gold Coast (1781–1782)
* Assam (1786)
* Australian frontier wars (1788–1934)
* Nootka Sound (1789)
* Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789–1792)
* Cotiote (Wayanad) War (1793–1806)
* Rohilkhand (1794)
* Cape Colony (1795)
* Jamaica (1795–1796)
* Grenada (1795–1796)
* Ceylon (1795)
* Kandyan Wars (1796–1818)
* Irish Rebellion (1798)
* Malta (1798–1800)
* Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798–1799)
* Dwyer's guerrilla campaign (1799–1803)
* Polygar Wars (1799–1805)

19th
century|

* Newfoundland (1800)
* Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805)
* Castle Hill convict rebellion (1804)
* Surinam (1804)
* Cape Colony (1806)
* Río de la Plata (1806–1807)
* Egypt (1807)
* Froberg mutiny (1807)
* Santo Domingo (1808–1809)
* Martinique (1809)
* Persian Gulf (1809)
* Guadeloupe (1810)
* Reunion (1810)
* Mauritius (1810)
* Seychelles (1810)
* Spice Islands (1810)
* Java (1810–1811)
* Xhosa Wars (1811–1879)
* USA (1812–1815)
* Palembang (1812)
* Yogyakarta (1812)
* Sambas (1812–1813)
* Nepal (1814–1816)
* Guadeloupe (1815)
* Cape Colony (1815)
* Algiers (1816)
* Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1818)
* Persian Gulf (1819)
* Guiana (1823)
* Anglo-Ashanti wars (1824–1901)
* First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826)
* Black War (Van Diemen's Land) (1828–1832)
* Jamaica (1831–1832)
* Malacca (1831–1833)
* Lower Canada (1837–1838)
* Upper Canada (1837–1838)
* Aden Expedition (1839)
* Egyptian–Ottoman War (1839–1841)
* First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842)
* First Opium War (1839–1842)
* New Zealand Wars (1845–1872)
* First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–1846)
* Río de la Plata (1845–1850)
* Canton (1847)
* British Honduras (1847–1901)
* Ceylon (1848)
* Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–1849)
* Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852)
* Kombo (1853–1855)
* Eureka Rebellion (1854)
* Åland War (1854–1856)
* Anglo-Persian War (1856–1857)
* Second Opium War (1856–1860)
* Indian Rebellion (1857–1859)
* Revolt of Rajab Ali (1857–1858)
* Kagoshima (1863)
* Ambela campaign (1863–1864)
* Shimonoseki (1864)
* Duar War (1864–1865)
* Fenian Rebellion in Canada (1866–1871)
* Abyssinia (1868)
* Manitoba (1870)
* Perak (1875–1876)
* Anglo-Zulu War (1879)
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* Basutoland (1880–1881)
* First Boer War (1880–1881)
* Mahdist War (1881–1899)
* Anglo-Egyptian War (1882)
* Saskatchewan (1885)
* Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885)
* Central Africa (1886–1889)
* Hazara (1888)
* Mashonaland (1890)
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* Anglo-Zanzibar War (1896)
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* Benin Expedition (1897)
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* First Mohmand campaign (1897–1898)
* Tirah campaign (1897–1898)
* Six-Day War (1899)
* Boxer Rebellion (1898–1901)
* Second Boer War (1899–1902)

20th
century|

* Somaliland (1900–1920)
* West Africa (1901–1902)
* Tibet expedition (1903–1904)
* Bambatha Rebellion (1906)
* Maritz rebellion (1914–1915)
* Tochi (1914–1915)
* Nyasaland (1915)
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* Peshawar (1915)
* Mohmand (1916–1917)
* Quebec (1917)
* Nigeria (1918)
* Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919)
* Waziristan campaign (1919–1920)
* Iraqi Revolt (1920)
* Malabar rebellion (1921)
* Kurdistan (1922–1924)
* Transjordan (1923)
* Pink's War (1925)
* Ikhwan revolt (1927–1930)
* Tirah (1930–1931)
* Barzani revolt (1931–1932)
* Second Mohmand campaign (1935)
* Arab revolt in Palestine (1936–1939)
* Waziristan campaign (1936–1939)
* Ethiopia (1943)
* Jewish revolt in Palestine (1944–1948)
* Indochina (1945–1946)
* Indonesia (1945)
* Sarawak (1946–1950)
* Malayan Emergency (1948–1960)
* Kenya Emergency (1952–1960)
* Oman (1954–1959)
* Cyprus Emergency (1955–1959)
* Suez Crisis (1956)
* Oman (1962–1976)
* Brunei (1962)
* Sarawak (1962–1990)
* Malaysia (1962–1966)
* Aden (1963–1967)
* Falklands (1982)

* v
* t
* e

Riots and civil unrest in the history of the United States (1607–1865)

Colonial era &
1776–1789|

| Massachusetts|

* 1689 Boston revolt
* Boston bread riot (1710–1713)
* Knowles Riot (1747)
* Liberty affair (1768)
* Boston Massacre (1770)
* Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787)

|

New York|

* Leisler's Rebellion (1689–1691)
* New York Slave Revolt of 1712
* New York Conspiracy of 1741
* Battle of Golden Hill (1770)
* 1788 doctors' riot

North Carolina|

* Culpeper's Rebellion (1677)
* Cary's Rebellion (1711)
* War of the Regulation (1765–1771)
* Battle of Alamance (1771)

Pennsylvania|

* Philadelphia Election riot (1742)
* Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783

Virginia|

* Gloucester County Conspiracy (1663)
* Bacon's Rebellion (1677)
* Chesapeake rebellion (1730)

Others|

* Plundering Time (Maryland, 1644)
* Protestant Revolution (Maryland, 1689)
* Stono Rebellion (South Carolina, 1739)
* Gaspee affair (1772)
* Pine Tree Riot (1772)

1789–1849|

| Iowa|

* Honey War (1839)
* Bellevue War (1840)

|

Massachusetts|

* Ursuline Convent riots (1834)
* Abolition Riot of 1836
* Broad Street Riot (1837)

New York|

* Eggnog riot (1826)
* New York anti-abolitionist riots (1834)
* Flour riot of 1837
* Anti-Rent War (1839–1845)
* Astor Place Riot (1849)

Ohio|

* 1792 Cincinnati riot
* Cincinnati riots of 1829
* Cincinnati riots of 1836
* Cincinnati riots of 1841

Pennsylvania|

* Whiskey Rebellion (1791–1794)
* Fries's Rebellion (1799–1800)
* Philadelphia race riot (1834)
* Destruction of Pennsylvania Hall (1838)
* Buckshot War (1838)
* Lombard Street riot (1842)
* Muncy Abolition riot of 1842
* Philadelphia nativist riots (1844)

Rhode Island|

* 1824 Hard Scrabble race riot
* 1831 Snow Town race riot
* Dorr Rebellion (1841–1842)

Others|

* 1811 German Coast uprising
* Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)
* Blackburn Riots (1833)
* Baltimore bank riot (1835)
* Snow Riot (1835)

1849–1865|

| California|

* Squatters' riot (1850)
* San Francisco Vigilance Movement (1851–1856)

|

Illinois|

* Lager Beer Riot (1855)
* Charleston riot (1864)

Kansas|

* Bleeding Kansas (1854–1861)
* Wakarusa War (1855)
* Sacking of Lawrence (1856)
* Pottawatomie massacre (1856)
* Battle of Black Jack (1856)
* Battle of Fort Titus (1856)
* Battle of Osawatomie (1856)
* Battles of Franklin's Fort (1856)
* Marais des Cygnes massacre (1856)
* Battle of the Spurs (1859)

Maine|

* Bath anti-Catholic riot of 1854
* Portland Rum Riot (1855)

Maryland|

* Know-Nothing Riots of 1856
* Baltimore riot of 1861

Michigan|

* 1849 Detroit riot
* Detroit brothel riots (1855–1859)
* Detroit race riot of 1863

New York|

* New York City Police riot (1857)
* Dead Rabbits riot (1857)
* Brooklyn riot (1862)
* Buffalo riot of 1862
* New York City draft riots (1863)

Ohio|

* Cincinnati riot of 1853
* Cincinnati riots of 1855
* Battle of Fort Fizzle (1863)

Others|

* Erie Gauge War (1853–1854)
* Bloody Monday (1855)
* Washington D.C. Know-Nothing Riot (1857)
* New Orleans Know-Nothing Riot (1858)
* John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry (1859)
* Morrisite War (1862)
* Southern bread riots (1863)

Related|

* List of incidents of civil unrest in Colonial North America
* Mass racial violence in the United States

* v
* t
* e

Tax resistance

Topics|

* Conscientious objection to military taxation
* List of historical acts of tax resistance
* Tax resistance in the United States .
* List of tax resisters

Methods|

* Barter
* Gift economy
* Local currency
* Rebellion
* Self-sufficiency
* Simple living
* Tax avoidance
* Tax evasion
* Unreported employment

Organizations|

* Addiopizzo
* Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera
* All Britain Anti-Poll Tax Federation
* Anti-Poll Tax Unions
* Association of Real Estate Taxpayers
* Catalunya Diu Prou
* Committee for Non-Violent Action
* Fasci Siciliani
* I Don't Pay Movement
* Irish National Land League
* National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund
* National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee
* Northern California War Tax Resistance
* Pagal Panthis
* Peace churches
* Peacemakers
* Planka.nu
* Women's Tax Resistance League
* Zuism

Media|

* An Act of Conscience
* "Civil Disobedience"
* Clericis laicos
* The Cold War and the Income Tax: A Protest
* "Vyborg Manifesto"

Campaigns
by century|

| 14th|

* Tuchin Revolt
* Harelle
* Peasants' Revolt

|

15th|

* Cornish Rebellion of 1497

16th|

* Croquant rebellions
* Rappenkrieg
* Revolt of the Pitauds

17th|

* Angelets
* Revolt of the papier timbré
* Revolt of the va-nu-pieds
* Salt Tax Revolt in Spain
* Salt Riot in Moscow

18th|

* Boston Tea Party
* Edenton Tea Party
* Fries's Rebellion
* Gaspee affair
* No taxation without representation
* Philadelphia Tea Party
* Revolt of the Comuneros (New Granada)
* Regulator Movement in North Carolina
* Whiskey Rebellion
* White Lotus Rebellion

19th|

* Anti-Rent War
* Dog Tax War
* House Tax Hartal
* Hut Tax War of 1898
* Low Rebellion
* Mejba Revolt
* Rebecca Riots
* Saminism Movement
* Tancament de Caixes
* Tithe War
* Wallachian uprising

20th|

* Agbekoya
* Bambatha Rebellion
* Bardoli Satyagraha
* Beit Sahour
* Bondelswarts affair
* Champaran Satyagraha
* Gordon Kahl
* Kheda Satyagraha
* Irwin Schiff
* Johnson cult
* Mau movement
* Poll Tax Riots
* Poplar Rates Rebellion
* Tupper Saussy
* Turra Coo
* Salt March
* Vedaranyam March
* Women's poll tax repeal movement
* Women's War

21st|

* Anti-austerity movement in Greece
* Anti-Bin Tax Campaign
* Edward and Elaine Brown standoff
* Bonnets Rouges
* Campaign Against Home and Water Taxes
* Movimento Passe Livre
* Movimiento Pos Me Salto
* Yellow vests protests

Related topics|

* Income tax threshold
* Potentially dangerous taxpayer
* Render unto Caesar
* Sovereign citizen / Freeman on the land / Redemption movement
* Tax haven
* Tax inversion
* Tax noncompliance
* Tax protester (arguments / history in the United States)
* Tax riot
* Taxation as slavery
* Taxation as theft

Portals:

* British Empire
* Monarchy
* North Carolina

Authority control databases

National|

* United States
* Israel

Other|

* Yale LUX

*[POW]: Prisoner of war
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