Anti-Abolitionist Riots

The Boston Riot of October 28^th 1835 occurred when a pro-slavery mob went looking British abolitionist George Thomas.

There were riots in New York City and Philadelphia in 1834 led by anti-abolitionist.  In early 1835 British abolitionist George Thompson and the poet John Greenleaf Whittier were stoned in Concord, New Hampshire by pro-slavery people.   In October 1835 Thompson was invited to speak at the Female Anti-Slavery Society of Boston, Massachusetts.  Boston was where William Lloyd Garrison published “The Liberator” a popular abolitionist newspaper.

A mob of anti-abolitionist formed October 28^th 1835 and went to the Society looking for Thompson.  They found Garrison instead, tied him and dragged him by the rope through the streets.  Boston’s mayor rescued Garrison, and put him in jail for the night, for his own safety.