American Moxie

Current events being what they are, it's understandable if maybe you aren't feeling so patriotic this Independence Day. America has a long history of protests, riots, and rebellions. If you don't feel like celebrating America this July 4th, perhaps you'd be interested in learning about (and maybe celebrating) moments in our country's history similar to what is happening now. The following facts come from Gale in Context: Elementary, one of the eSources available for use with your library card, and the book "What Was Stonewall?" by Nico Medina.

1773 - The Boston Tea Party - Often taught during history lessons, this is may be one of the more familiar on the list. This was a protest by American colonists against British taxes (in this case, specifically on tea). They were upset that they had no say in what taxes were imposed on them from a ruler across the ocean. So to protest what they felt was unfair taxing, they seized the tea from British ships and dumped it in the ocean.

To read more about this, check out these books from our collection:

Boycotting the British: Boston Tea Party by Virginia Loh-Hagan

What Was the Boston Tea Party by Kathleen Krull

You Wouldn't Want to Be At the Boston Tea Party: Wharf Water Tea You'd Rather Not Drink by Peter Cook

 

1786-1787 Shays' Rebellion - During the Revolutionary War, a lot of men who joined the army came back to farms that hadn't done well while they were gone. They owed money, and many were being thrown into jail or had their stuff confiscated and sold to cover the debt. The state legislature of Massachusetts wasn't helping, despite petitions and pleas. So Daniel Shays and other farmers formed regiments, and prevented the courts from being able to convene (thereby keeping people from prison). In 1787 they tried to capture a federal arsenal and failed. Though it was a failure, it helped show the dangers of a weak central government, and was a step in helping draft the Constitution. 

We don't have books on Shays' Rebellion, but you can check out books about the Constitution:

This Is Our Constitution: Discover America with a Gold Star Father by Khizr Khan

Know Your Rights: a Modern Kids Guide to the American Constitution by Laura Barcella 

The Interactive Constitution: Explore the Constitution with Flaps, Wheels, Color-changing Words, and More! by David and Stephanie Miles 

 

1839 - The Amistad Revolt  - Amistad was the name of a ship carrying 53 African men who had been abducted from their homes and sold into slavery in Havana, Cuba. Joseph Cinque, one of the enslaved men, managed to free himself and his fellow captives and they killed some of the crew and overthrew the remaining members of the ship. They demanded the ship sail back to Africa - which it did by day. By night, the crew would sail towards America. Two months later, they landed in New York and the enslaved men were charged with murder and piracy. Eventually the case made it to the Supreme Court and former president John Quincy Adams represented the enslaved men. In 1841, the decision was made (agreeing with lower courts) that the men were not guilty, and by January 1842 they were back in Africa. 

To read more about this and an earlier revolt, check out these books from our collection:

The Amistad Revolt by Ellis Roxburgh

Nat Turner and the Slave Revolt by Tracy Barrett

Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion by Ellis Roxburgh

 

1965 - The Selma Voting Rights Marches and Bloody Sunday  - On Sunday, March 7 approximately 600 people planned on marching from Selma, Alabama to the capitol of the state, Montgomery, as a peaceful protest in demand of equal voting rights. Though they had the legal right to vote, many black people couldn't due to poll taxes and literacy tests put in place to prevent them from doing so. The governor of Alabama gave orders not to let them pass, so as the group marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, 200 police officers and troopers were waiting for them. The protesters were violently attacked by the waiting officers, and people across the country watched it happen on TV. Five months later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.

To read more about this, check out these books from our collection:

Because They Marched: The Peoples' Campaign for Voting Rights That Changed America by Russell Freedman

Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don't You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge

The Story of the Selma Voting Rights Marches in Photographs by David Aretha

 

1969 - The Stonewall Uprising

As recently as the 1950s, gay couples were arrested for holding hands or kissing in public. People could lose their jobs if their employers found out they were gay, and so a lot of people hid who they were from the world. In 1967, a law was overturned that effectively prevented gay people to be served in bars, and in March of that year the Stonewall Inn bar opened. In 1968 the law banning same-sex dancing in public was overturned. In 1969, the police raided the Stonewall Inn and arrested some of the staff because it was owned by the mafia. They decided to raid again that same week, and this time the patrons of the bar fought back. See- they weren't just arresting employees this time, but also drag queens, lesbians - anyone who fell under the category of "cross-dresser", and they were violent in their arrests. The patrons fought back, and the police sought shelter in the bar, which made the patrons even angrier. The bar was their haven from the outside world. They threw bricks and started fires. More demonstrations happened that week, and it brought the gay community together. The Stonewall Uprising is credited as being the first Pride.

To read more about this, check out these books from our collection:

Stonewall: a Building, and Uprising, a Revolution by Rob Sanders

The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets by Gayle E Pittman

What Was Stonewall by Nico Medina

 

I can't write a blog on every important protest, riot, or rebellion in our country's history, so here is some additional reading:

Raise Your Voice: 12 Protests That Shaped America by Jeffrey Kluger

Black Lives Matter by Duchess Harris

The Standing Rock Sioux Challenge the Dakota Access Pipeline by Clara MacCarald

 

If you feel inclined to do something, whether that be march, protest, or some other form of activism, check out some of these:

If You're Going to a March by Martha Freeman

The Little Book of Little Activists

Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights by Rob Sanders

You Are Mighty: A Guide to Changing the World by Caroline Paul

Originally Posted by StephanieT on June 24, 2020