List of incidents of civil unrest in Colonial North America
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17th century – Colonial North America

* 1622 -
Indian massacre of 1622 The Indian massacre of 1622, popularly known as the Jamestown massacre, took place in the English Colony of Virginia, in what is now the United States, on 22 March 1622. John Smith, though he had not been in Virginia since 1609 and was not an ey ...
* 1637 -
Pequot War The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place between 1636 and 1638 in New England between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Narragans ...
* 1675 -
King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...
* 1675 - Siege of Brookfield * 1675 -
Attack on Springfield The siege of Springfield was a siege of the colonial New England settlement of Springfield by Native Americans during King Philip's War. Springfield was the second colonial settlement in New England to be burned to the ground during the war, fol ...
, October 5 * 1676 -
Attack on Sudbury The Sudbury Fight (April 21, 1676) was a battle of King Philip's War, fought in what is today Sudbury and Wayland, Massachusetts, when approximately five hundred Wampanoag, Nipmuc, and Narragansett Native Americans raided the frontier settlemen ...
, April 21 * 1676 -
Bacon's Rebellion Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion held by Colony of Virginia, Virginia settlers that took place from 1676 to 1677. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon (Virginia colonist), Nathaniel Bacon against List of colonial governors of Virginia, Colon ...
, Sept 19, Rebels burn down colonial capital,
Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...
* 1677 -
Culpeper's Rebellion Culpeper's Rebellion was a popular uprising in 1677 provoked by the enforcement of the Navigation Acts. It was led by settler John Culpeper against the ruling Lords Proprietor in Albemarle County, Carolina, near what is now Elizabeth City, North ...
, 1677–1678, Revolt against the ruling
Lords Proprietors A lord proprietor is a person granted a royal charter for the establishment and government of an English colony in the 17th century. The plural of the term is "lords proprietors" or "lords proprietary". Origin In the beginning of the European ...
in Albemarle County,
Province of Carolina Province of Carolina was a province of England (1663–1707) and Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until partitioned into North and South on January 24, 1712. It is part of present-day Alaba ...
, near what is now
Elizabeth City Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It is the cultural, economic and educ ...
,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
* 1680 -
Pueblo Revolt The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, also known as Popé's Rebellion or Popay's Rebellion, was an uprising of most of the indigenous Pueblo people against the Spanish empire, Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, larger than prese ...
* 1689 - Cochecho Massacre, June 28 * 1689 -
Boston revolt The 1689 Boston revolt was a popular uprising on April 18, 1689, against the rule of Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of the Dominion of New England. A well-organized "mob" of provincial militia and citizens formed in the town of Boston, the cap ...
, Angered Bostonians rose up against the royal governor,
Edmund Andros Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714) was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other times, Andros served ...
, jailed him, and took control of the city. * 1689 -
Leisler's Rebellion Leisler's Rebellion was an uprising in late-17th century colonial New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Coloni ...
, 1689 to 1691, An uprising in lower New York against the policies of King
James II of England James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Gloriou ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...


18th century – Colonial North America

* 1711 -
Cary's Rebellion Cary's Rebellion (also known as the Cary Rebellion) was an uprising against the Deputy Governor of North-Carolina in 1711 led by Thomas Cary, who refused to give up his governorship to Edward Hyde. The rebellion was a part of a long-standing t ...
* 1712 -
New York Slave Revolt of 1712 The New York Slave Revolt of 1712 was an uprising in New York City, in the Province of New York, of 23 Black slaves. They killed nine whites and injured another six before they were stopped. More than 70 black people were arrested and jailed. O ...
, April 6,
New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
* 1715 -
Yamasee War The Yamasee War (also spelled Yamassee or Yemassee) was a conflict fought in South Carolina from 1715 to 1717 between British settlers from the Province of Carolina and the Yamasee and a number of other allied Native American peoples, incl ...
* 1713 - Boston Bread Riot, Boston, Massachusetts * 1734 -
Mast Tree Riot Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mast ...
,
Fremont, New Hampshire Fremont is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,739 at the 2020 census, up from 4,283 at the 2010 census. Fremont is crossed by the Rockingham Recreation Trail (a rail trail) and NH Route 107. History ...
* 1737 -
Boston Brothel Riot Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
, Boston, Massachusetts * 1739 -
Stono Rebellion The Stono Rebellion (also known as Cato's Conspiracy or Cato's Rebellion) was a slave revolt that began on 9 September 1739, in the colony of South Carolina. It was the largest slave rebellion in the Southern Colonies, with 25 colonists and 35 t ...
, Slave rebellion., September,
Province of South Carolina Province of South Carolina, originally known as Clarendon Province, was a province of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776. It was one of the five Southern colonies and one of the thirteen American colonies. The monar ...
* 1741 -
New York Slave Insurrection of 1741 The Conspiracy of 1741, also known as the Slave Insurrection of 1741, was a purported plot by slaves and poor whites in the British colony of New York in 1741 to revolt and level New York City New York, often ca ...
,
New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
* 1742 -
Philadelphia Election Riot The Philadelphia Election Riot in 1742 was a riot that occurred due to political disagreements among the constituents of the increasingly diverse population in the city. Politics in Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, had long been dominated by th ...
,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
* 1746 - New Jersey Tenant Riots,
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
* 1747 -
Knowles Riot The Knowles Riot, also known as the Impressment Riot of 1747, was a three-day riot in Boston that began on 17 November 1747, in response to the impressment of 46 Bostonians by Admiral Charles Knowles into the navy. Hundreds of mostly working-cla ...
, Boston, Massachusetts (anti-
impressment Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of ...
) * 1763 -
Pontiac's War Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of Native Americans dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–176 ...
* 1764 -
Paxton Riots The Paxton Boys were Pennsylvania's most aggressive colonists according to historian Kevin Kenny. While not many specifics are known about the individuals in the group their overall profile is clear. Paxton Boys Lived in hill country northwest of ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
* 1764 - Attack of ,
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
* 1765 -
War of the Regulation The Regulator Movement, 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, whom they v ...
, 1765–1771,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
* 1765 -
Black Boys The Black Boys, also known as the Brave Fellows and the Loyal Volunteers, were members of a white settler movement in the Conococheague Valley of colonial Pennsylvania sometimes known as the Black Boys Rebellion. The Black Boys, named because they ...
Rebellion, 1765 & 1769, Revolt against British policy regarding American Indians in western Pennsylvania. Conococheague Valley,
colonial Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to Wi ...
* 1765 -
Stamp Act 1765 The Stamp Act 1765, also known as the Duties in American Colonies Act 1765 (5 Geo. III c. 12), was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which imposed a direct tax on the British colonies in America and required that many printed materials i ...
riots, Protests and riots in Boston, later spread throughout the colonies, notably Rhode Island, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and South Carolina. * 1768 -
Liberty Riot John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as President of the C ...
, Boston (anti-
impressment Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of ...
and anti-
Townshend Acts The Townshend Acts () or Townshend Duties, were a series of British acts of Parliament passed during 1767 and 1768 introducing a series of taxes and regulations to fund administration of the British colonies in America. They are named after the ...
) * 1770 -
Boston Massacre The Boston Massacre (known in Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain as the Incident on King Street) was a confrontation in Boston on March 5, 1770, in which a group of nine British soldiers shot five people out of a crowd of three or four hu ...
, Boston, Massachusetts * 1771 -
Battle of Alamance The Battle of Alamance, which took place on May 16, 1771, was the final battle of the Regulator Movement, a rebellion in Province of North Carolina, colonial North Carolina over issues of taxation and local control, considered by some to be the ...
, Last battle of
War of the Regulation The Regulator Movement, 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, whom they v ...
, May 1771,
Alamance Alamance is a village in Alamance County, North Carolina, Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 951 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 cens ...
,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
* 1772 - ''Gaspee'' Affair, Rhode Island * 1772 -
Pine Tree Riot The Pine Tree Riot was an act of resistance to British royal authority undertaken by American colonists in Weare, New Hampshire on April 14, 1772, placing it among the disputes between Crown and colonists that culminated in the American Revolution. ...
,
Weare, New Hampshire Weare is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 9,092 at the 2020 census. It is close to two important New Hampshire cities, Manchester and Concord. History It was granted to veterans of the Canadian ...
* 1773 -
Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea ...
, Boston, Massachusetts * 1774 - The burning of the ship , October 19, 1774, The "Annapolis Tea Party", Action taken in Maryland to support the people in Boston following the
Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea ...
,
Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...


See also

*
Colonial history of the United States The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...
*
List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States Listed are major episodes of civil unrest in the United States. This list does not include the numerous incidents of destruction and violence associated with various sporting events. 18th century *1783 – Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, June 20 ...
*
List of massacres The following is a list of events for which one of the commonly accepted names includes the word "massacre". Definition ''Massacre'' is defined in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "the indiscriminate and brutal slaughter of people ...
*
List of riots This is a chronological list of known riots. Seventeenth century and earlier * 44 BC – Assassination of Julius Caesar (Rome, Roman Republic). During Caesar's cremation in the Forum, an incensed mob took firebrands from the pyre and attacke ...
(notable incidents of civil disorder worldwide) *
List of strikes The following is a list of specific strikes (workers refusing to work, seeking to change their conditions in a particular industry or an individual workplace, or striking in solidarity with those in another particular workplace) and general str ...
*
Timeline of labor issues and events Timeline of trade union history 1600–1699 ;1619 (United States) :1619 Jamestown Polish craftsmen strike. ;1636 (United States) :Maine Indentured Servant's and Fisherman's Mutiny. ;1648 (United States) :Boston Coopers and Shoemakers form g ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Incidents Of Civil Unrest In The Colonial North America
Colonial North America The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...