Anatomy of Protest in America delivers a unique opportunity to investigate through newspaper articles, editorials, and books the people, places, events, organizations, and ideas, that were so important to Americans that they took action, exercised their rights, and stood up to protest.

From colonial exploitation and revolution, slavery, and abolition to political rights, suffrage, and economic and industrial disturbances, this collection will guide the user through almost 225 years of American protest history. It’s organized in two convenient parts.

Newspapers – 1729-1922

We provide real-time reporting of an event, place, or person. The articles take the reader from the Boston Tea Party to Turner’s Rebellion, from the New York City Draft Riots to the Haymarket Strike and the anti-Communist demonstrations of the early 1920s.

There are popular editorials from the person on the street, the rioter, and the protester. The leaders’ points of view, professed goals, and personal opinions are presented for the reader to assess and understand the meaning and motivations of popular protest actions.

For example, the campaign to abolish slavery in the United States was one of the most powerful and effective social movements of the 19th century. Users mining the newspapers articles, stories, and editorials in Part I can trace how African American and white abolitionist voices grew louder, with actions becoming more violent over time, culminating in John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry.

The abolition of slavery and the Civil War ushered in an era of increased tension in Northern and Southern cities. Users can read articles on the traumatic New York City Draft Riots in 1863, the New Orleans riot of 1866, the Chicago Riot of 1919, and others. Race rioting was rampant from small towns to larger urban settings in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Books – 1701-1928

We offer both a historical overview and a framework for understanding protest and its movements in American history. Woven into the fabric of local and regional history, the survey provides an engaging narrative history on social, political, and economic movements and their actions.

This rich historical archive includes a significant breadth of coverage of the movements, leaders, and adversaries, while bringing to life the voices of protest and reaction to the issues of their day.

The influence of Populism—a powerful agrarian-based movement in the late 19th century—is one of many movements that can be traced through Part II. These remembrances and personal narratives provide the reader with a unique opportunity to understand this important social movement. The collection also provides background on the causes, its leaders, its impulse to protest, and the institutional response to protests on the local and regional level.

This file is no longer sold. It remains available to those who purchased or subscribed prior to August 2023. It’s currently offered on the Accessible Archives platform and will migrate to the History Commons platform early in 2024.