American Mobs

Civil disorder is part of our national character. As Americans we believe that civil disorder can be an appropriate and necessary response to perceived injustice. It was an important aspect of the American Revolution and it's practically part of the Constitution. The right to resort to civil disorder is the motivation for the Second Amendment that guarantees the right to keep and bear arms.

The civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri is neither unusual nor surprising when seen against the long history of hundreds of incidents of civil disorder going back more than two hundred years--more than one a year since the birth of the nation. For the complete list, see this Wikipedia article. Here are a few of the more notorious mob actions:

• Shay's Rebellion (1786)
• Whiskey Rebellion (1791)
• Cincinnati Riots (1829)
• Philadelphia Nativist Riots (1844)
• Bloody Monday (1855)
• New York Draft Riots (1863)
• Haymarket Riot (1886)
• May Day Riots (1894)
• Atlanta Riot (1906)
• Red Summer (1919)
• Battle of the Overpass (1937)
• Zoot Suit Riots (1943)
• Battle of Hayes Pond (1953)
• Watts Riots (1965)
• Wounded Knee (1973)
• Tampa Riots (1987-1992)
• University of Maryland Riot (2002)
• Springfest Riot (2010)
• Bundy Rebellion (2014)

Less than half were race riots and some of the earlier race riots were whites attacking blacks.

I added the Bundy Rebellion from earlier this year though it may not qualify as a riot because no actual violence occurred due to the federal government backing off from armed confrontation. The Wikipedia list doesn't include the Boston Tea Party or the American Revolution itself, perhaps because it includes only incidents that occurred after the United States was formally declared in 1781.