Thomas Wilson Dorr (November 5, 1805December 27, 1854), was an American politician and
reformer in Rhode Island, best known for leading the
Dorr Rebellion
The Dorr Rebellion (1841–1842) (also referred to as Dorr's Rebellion, Dorr's War or Dorr War) was an attempt by disenfranchised residents to force broader democracy in the U.S. state of Rhode Island, where a small rural elite was in control of ...
.
Early life, family, and education
Thomas Wilson Dorr was born in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, the son of Sullivan and Lydia (Allen) Dorr. His father was a prosperous manufacturer and co-owner of
Bernon Mill Village The city of Woonsocket in the U.S. state of Rhode Island was established as a union of six mill villages along the Blackstone River. These villages are described in more detail below.
*Woonsocket Falls Village was founded in the 1820s, taking up m ...
. Dorr's family occupied a good social position. He had sisters and other siblings.
As a boy, he attended
Phillips Exeter Academy
(not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God)
, location = 20 Main Street
, city = Exeter, New Hampshire
, zipcode ...
. After graduating from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
in 1823, he went to New York City, where he studied law under
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
James Kent James Kent may refer to:
*James Kent (jurist) (1763–1847), American jurist and legal scholar
* James Kent (composer) (1700–1776), English composer
*James Kent, better known as Perturbator, French electronic/synthwave musician
*James Tyler Kent ...
and Vice-Chancellor William McCoun. He was admitted to the bar in 1827 and returned to Providence to practice.
Thomas Dorr never married, but two of his sisters wed prominent men. One of his nephews married a daughter of
John Lothrop Motley
John Lothrop Motley (April 15, 1814 – May 29, 1877) was an American author and diplomat. As a popular historian, he is best known for his works on the Netherlands, the three volume work ''The Rise of the Dutch Republic'' and four volume ''His ...
.
Background
Dorr began his political career when elected as a representative in the
Rhode Island General Assembly
The State of Rhode Island General Assembly is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. A bicameral body, it is composed of the lower house, lower Rhode Island House of Representatives with 75 re ...
in 1834. He became concerned about issues of the franchise: white men who were not allowed to vote because they did not own a certain value of real estate, and the dominance of rural interests in the state legislature, where seats were apportioned by geographic jurisdictions, with all towns being treated as equal.
In the half-century following the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
, some activists worked to expand the franchise, often by reducing property or similar requirements. In Rhode Island such attempts were made at intervals from 1797 to 1834, but had invariably been obstructed by the state government. In 1834 a convention met at the capital of Providence to consider the matter again. Dorr was a member of the committee which drew up an address to the people. All efforts at reform, however, were blocked again by the legislature, dominated by rural interests. Its apportionment resulted in an under-representation of the growing urban populations in the industrializing cities.
By 1841 Rhode Island was almost the only state that had not adopted universal suffrage for white males. It was the only state that did not adopt a new written constitution after the Revolution. It relied on its original 17th-century colonial charter. Under that document the original grantees had had the sole right to decide who should have a voice in the management of public affairs. As was customary at the time, they had decreed that land ownership, specifically of "a moderate landed estate," was required to vote.
By 1840 this requirement resulted in more than half the adult white male population being excluded from voting. Apportionment by geographic towns resulted in 19 seats, more than half of the legislature, being held by towns that had a total population of only 3,500 voters, when the state had a total of 108,000 residents, with many of them living in the larger cities.
Moreover, no person who did not own real estate could bring suit for recovery of debt or obtain redress for personal injury unless a freeholder endorsed his writ. Many residents had become landless with the onset of the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, and the number of residents who did not own real estate was increasing with a wave of immigration from
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
Suffrage referendum
![The Four Traitors](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/The_Four_Traitors.jpg)
In 1840 the Rhode Island Suffrage Association was formed to address this increasingly unsatisfactory situation, and processions and popular meetings were held. State legislator Thomas Wilson Dorr took a leading part in the agitation.
The legislature refused to remedy the grievances, and the old charter did not provide any means for citizens to convene a constitutional convention. A "People's Party", therefore, was formed, which held a convention, adopted a constitution, and submitted it to a vote of the people. Approximately 14,000 ballots were cast in favor of it, and less than 100 cast against it. Of those in favor, more than 4,900 were qualified voters. The proposed state constitution was formally approved not only by the majority of the males over twenty-one but apparently by a majority of the voters considered legal under the charter.
The existing state government refused to consider any of these acts as legal.
Constitutional Convention called
The legislature called a constitutional convention itself and submitted a new constitution to the people. The government's constitution was defeated by the narrow margin of 676 votes out of 16,702. This new constitution provided for most of what Dorr and his followers had been seeking, and historians believe their rejection of it was a tactical error. Feelings had become very bitter, and the Dorrites had already put their constitution into effect by electing an entire state ticket, with Dorr as governor.
Governor Thomas Wilson Dorr
In May 1842 two governments in Rhode Island had held elections and were claiming the allegiance of the people. The People's Party did not attempt to seize the state house or machinery of government. Both governors issued proclamations, and Governor
Samuel Ward King
Samuel Ward King (May 23, 1786 – January 20, 1851) was the 15th Governor of Rhode Island from 1839 to 1843.
King was born in Johnston, Providence County, Rhode Island, to William Borden King and Welthian Walton.
He attended Brown Universit ...
of the "
Law and Order
In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...
" party appealed to Washington, DC for Federal aid. Dorr went to Washington to plead his own cause before President
John Tyler
John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president dire ...
. There he received no encouragement, and he returned to Rhode Island.
Governor in exile
Meanwhile, King had proclaimed martial law, offered a US$5,000 reward for the capture of Dorr, and made wholesale imprisonments of the latter's followers under the "Algerine Law." Many of Dorr's followers deserted him and he fled the state on May 18, 1842. A bungled attack on the Providence arsenal (which his father and younger brother, partisans of the "Law and Order" faction, were helping defend) led to the rebellion's disintegration.
![Grave of RI Governor Thomas Wilson Dorr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Grave_of_RI_Governor_Thomas_Wilson_Dorr.jpg)
Dorr returned briefly in June with a small band of New York volunteers, and assembled an armed force of his followers on Acote's Hill in
Chepachet. The governor ordered the state militia out, which marched on Chepachet. Realizing that they would be defeated if they engaged the militia, Dorr's followers dispersed. Dorr sought refuge in
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
and
.
Aftermath
Dorr returned to Providence in October 1843, when he hoped the more liberal constitution that had been adopted would protect him, but he was arrested. King and the old government sought their revenge. Dorr was tried for treason against Rhode Island at Newport, a conservative stronghold, before the
Rhode Island Supreme Court
The Rhode Island Supreme Court is the court of last resort in the U.S. State of Rhode Island. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices, all selected by the Governor of Rhode Island from candidates vetted by the Judicial No ...
; he was convicted and sentenced to solitary confinement at hard labor for life. He was committed on June 27, 1844.
The public was outraged about this sentence, and in 1845 the legislature passed an Act of General Amnesty; Dorr was released after serving twelve months of his term. In 1851 his civil rights were restored. In January 1854 the legislature passed an act annulling the verdict of the supreme court, but the state court ruled this act was unconstitutional. Dorr's health had been broken by his ordeal, and after his release he lived in retirement until his death.
His work, however, bore fruit: in 1843 a third constitution had been drafted and ratified by the people that provided universal male suffrage. Today, Rhode Island's state government recognizes the legitimacy of Dorr's efforts and includes Dorr in its list of governors.
Rhode Island Governors
. Retrieved on August 24, 2013.
References
Further reading
* "Thomas Wilson Dorr". ''Dictionary of American Biography''. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928–1936.
* Erik J. Chaput, ''The People's Martyr: Thomas Wilson Dorr and His 1842 Rhode Island Rebellion'' (University Press of Kansas, 2013)
External links
The Dorr Rebellion Project
at the Phillips Memorial Library, Providence College
Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...
Strange Bedfellows: The Politics of Race in Antebellum Rhode Island
Thomas Wilson Dorr daguerreotype
from the Rhode Island State Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorr, Thomas Wilson
1805 births
1854 deaths
Politicians from Providence, Rhode Island
Phillips Exeter Academy alumni
Harvard College alumni
Governors of Rhode Island
Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives
American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Rhode Island
People convicted of treason
Dorr Rebellion
Burials at Swan Point Cemetery
19th-century American politicians