Feed Me More!

Hello! And welcome to my blog. My name is Sunny and I’m currently a student at LaGuardia Community College. This semester, I am enrolled in a class known at this college as: ENN195.0962: Violence in American Art and Culture, taught by Dr. Justin Rogers-Cooper.

Presently, we are analyzing several chapters that help comprise a book written by J.T. Headley entitled: The Great Riots of New York 1712 to 1873.

One of the chapters I would like to discuss with you today is titled in the book as: The Flour Riot of 1837.

Summary: Basically, at this point in time, New York was a chaotic place to live in. The reason behind this was due to the fact that residents of the city face a lot harsher reality that exists today. This was a time period in which a lot of people were prone to dying because of starvation and rioting. There was no Welfare system, no food stamps, and no EBT cards. If you lived in this point in history and you were unable to afford food, you died. As a matter of fact, that was the way our civilization existed for centuries. In 1837, citizens of New York decided that they had had enough and began to riot. The rioters were individuals that could not afford to feed their families. The price of flour was too high for most to purchase and hence the name: The Flour Riot.

[A picture of flour and not...well, you know...]

Headley discusses in this reading that while the rich stockpiled grains, the poor, who could not afford flour, were suffering. The poor finally decided that they would not starve any longer and began to riot and loot local flour companies. This is a very important moment in history as connections can be made to present day. Whenever people feel that they are at their breaking point and can no longer tolerate the oppression imposed on them by wealthier individuals, they start reacting in the forms of strikes and riots. A prime example of this would be the Occupy Wall Street movement that occurred just a couple of years ago. During a recession in which companies and wealthy individuals decided to “save” their money instead of reinvesting back in people of lower financial classes, the majority population of these lower financial classes decided to protest this unfair treatment. This showcased that when society felt things were too unjust, they decided to take matters in their own hands and do what they can to raise awareness of their situation by protesting. The only difference between the Occupy Wall Street movement and the Flour Riot of 1837 is the mob back then was much more violent and things got so chaotic that the National Guard and the militia was called in to help contain the crowd and diffuse the situation. 

A link to this reading is provided here: The Flour Riot of 1837

Questions: Taking into consideration that people were on the verge of dying, would you as an individual be able to identify with the rioters and also be able to justify their actions?

What would you have done differently or proposed to help avoid some of the violence that occurred back in 1837?