Congressmenĭuring the antebellum period, Congress attacked itself. The Capitol only stopped burning after a huge storm fatefully swept Washington, sending British forces home earlier than planned.
They immolated the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, the Treasury building, and the chambers of both the House and Senate. When American militiamen broke rank, the British surged into the Capitol, stacked the furniture, laced it with gunpowder, and torched it. “They were totally unprepared,” writes historian Anthony Pitch, author of “The Burning of Washington: The British Invasion of 1814.” The British fired newly developed rockets at American forces, a militia comprising local farmers and tradesmen with little training. In 1814, just 14 years after the Capitol opened, British forces looted and set fire to it. The Capitol is no stranger to violent conflict. In 1835, a mob of working-class whites looted and destroyed Black-owned businesses, including Beverly Snow’s Epicurean Eating House, purportedly out of resentment over having to compete with Black people for jobs and fears over slave rebellions. For example, one of the earliest riots just outside the Capitol was the Snow Riot. Political grievances (including opposition to tyrannical governments), economic disputes, and long-standing oppression have all caused civil unrest in America.Įconomic and social causes of civil unrest aren’t mutually exclusive. Numerous issues can cause tensions to mount between a crowd and the authorities. Some instances of civil unrest become violent, resulting in destruction of property and death (as in sabotage, terrorism, and guerrilla tactics). Some are peaceful (as in civil disobedience, civil resistance, and nonviolent resistance). What is civil unrest?Ĭivil unrest is any activity arising from an act of mass civil disobedience - such as a riot, strike, or demonstration - in which participants become hostile to authority.Ĭivil disturbance may be spontaneous or planned.
Historians also pay keen attention to the specific ways that entities name and frame events (for example, as “protests” versus “riots”) to advance their social, political, and economic aims. When trained historians consider civil unrest in America, they look to many possible causes of the conflict and analyze events from multiple perspectives. The last time it was actually breached was in 1814, during the War of 1812. However, the Capitol has withstood civil unrest multiple times since construction began on it in 1793. The Capitol riot is the deadliest attack on the Capitol in U.S. More than 140 people suffered injuries and five people died, including a U.S. As Congress fled for safety, the mob broke windows, vandalized offices, and roamed the Senate halls. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College votes.
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