Cincinnati riots of 1829
| Cincinnati riots of 1829 | |||
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| Part of Mass racial violence in the United States | |||
| Date | August 15–22, 1829 | ||
| Location | Cincinnati, Ohio | ||
| Causes | Racism in the United States | ||
| Goals | Expulsion of African Americans | ||
| Methods | Rioting | ||
| Result |
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| Parties to the civil conflict | |||
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The Cincinnati riots of 1829 were triggered by competition between Irish immigrants and African Americans for jobs in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States but also were related to white fears given the rapid increases of free and fugitive blacks in the city during this decade, particularly in the preceding three years. Merchants complained about the poor neighborhoods along the river as having ill effects on their waterfront shops and trade with southern planters. Artisans excluded blacks from apprenticeships and jobs in the skilled trades.In June 1829 overseers of the poor announced that blacks would be required to post bonds of surety in 30 days or face expulsion from the city and state, in an enforcement of the 1807 Black Law, intended to discourage black settlement in the state.
Some African Americans had already been considering relocating to Canada, which they believed had a more accepting environment. They generally opposed the goal of the American Colonization Society of resettling free people of color "back" to Africa. Native-born African Americans had been in the United States for generations and wanted to make their homes there as free people with full rights.
Proposed enforcement of Black Law convinced some leaders to leave the United States. Added to the mob violence and destruction of their densely populated neighborhood in the First Ward, an estimated 1100-1500 African Americans decided to leave Cincinnati altogether. African Americans and sympathetic whites donated money to help the refugees and survivors. Some settled elsewhere in the United States, while a smaller group moved to Canada. Most settled in existing towns in Ontario, where numerous refugee blacks lived after escaping from slavery. A group with more resources founded the Wilberforce Colony as a place of their own.
African Americans who remained in Cincinnati, and black migrants who joined them, were attacked again by ethnic white rioters in 1836 and 1841. By the latter date, they had strengthened their position in the city and used the political process to gain improvements in treatment.
Cincinnati in southern Ohio was located in a free state, but it had been settled by many migrants from the Upper South, who traveled along the Ohio River to reach it. In the early decades of the 19th century, most of its residents were from eastern states, particularly Pennsylvania, but it was strongly influenced by Southern attitudes. It was described as having the economy and policies of the South, while serving as a gateway to and having the aspirations of the "west," as the developing frontier of the Ohio Country was known.
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