1812 - ANOTHER RIOT AT BALTIMORE!

COLUMBIAN CENTINEL - BOSTON MA - AUGUST 4th 1812

Many members of the Democratic-Republican Party viewed opposition as treasonous or near-treasonous once the War of 1812 was declared. The Washington National Intelligencer wrote that, "WAR IS DECLARED, and every patriot heart must unite in its support." The Augusta Chronicle wrote that, "he who is not for us is against us."[1]

This sentiment was especially strong in Baltimore, at the time a boomtown with a large population of recent French, Irish, and German immigrants who especially hated Britain. In early 1812, several riots took place, centering around the anti-war Federalist newspaper the Federal Republican. Its offices were destroyed by a mob. Meanwhile, several Black people thought to be sympathetic to Britain were assaulted. Local and city officials, all war hawks, expressed disapproval of the violence, but did little to stop it.[2] When the editors of Federal Republican tried to return, they were removed from protective custody in a jail by a mob, on the night of July 27, and tortured; one, Revolutionary War veteran James Lingan, died of his injuries. Opponents of the war then largely ceased to openly express their opposition in Baltimore.[3]



4. Hickey, Donald R. (1990). The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-06059-8.
5. ^ Hickey (1990), pp. 56-58
6. ^ Hickey (1990), pp. 64-66