Philadelphia Election riot facts for kids

The Philadelphia Election Riot in 1742 was a big fight that happened because people in Philadelphia had strong disagreements about politics. The city was growing and had many different kinds of people. For a long time, the Quakers were in charge of politics in Pennsylvania. But another group, the Proprietary Party, mostly made up of Anglicans, started to challenge their power. This caused a lot of tension.

The Quakers were led by Isaac Norris II, and the Anglicans were led by William Allen. Both men were important and had a lot of political influence. To try and win the election, the Anglican party hired sailors to cause trouble. The Quakers, on their side, were bringing German people from the countryside to vote, even if they weren't officially citizens yet. On election day, October 1, 1742, a big fight broke out between the two groups.

Why the Riot Happened

For many years, the Quakers had a lot of power in Philadelphia's government. They saw the growing number of German people as a way to keep their power. Quaker leaders like John Kinsey and Isaac Norris II worked hard to convince Germans to vote for their party. Their efforts seemed to work, as the number of voters tripled between 1739 and 1740.

Many German settlers liked the Quakers' belief in peace, called Pacifism. They thought it would protect them from being forced into the army and from high taxes. Isaac Norris also helped the Germans by making land available to them and doing business with them.

Even though the Quakers wanted the German vote, both the Quakers and the Anglicans didn't always like the Germans who started moving to the colony after 1715. By the 1750s, Germans made up about 40% of Pennsylvania's population. For a while, the German vote was split and didn't change elections much. But in the 1760s, the Anglican party started trying to get the support of the Dutch settlers. This made the Quakers work even harder to get the Germans on their side. Germans often preferred farming over politics. They liked being "swing voters" because it meant both parties would try to help them to get their support.

Disagreements Over Voting Rules

When the Anglican leader, William Allen, couldn't get enough German votes, he tried to change the election rules. He wanted to bring back a law from 1739 that would allow each party to have their own election inspectors. This was partly because they didn't trust the Quakers. From 1739 to 1741, the Quakers had used a trick during voting. An election official would collect a ballot and take it upstairs to be counted. But they would block the stairs and only let ballots from their favored voters go through.

Allen hoped that bringing back the old law would make the election fair. However, the two sides couldn't agree on how to make sure the voting was fair. This made the distrust between them grow even more.

As election day got closer, both sides heard rumors. The Quakers believed the Anglicans were planning to attack the voting place with many people, which was true, as some sailors had been hired. The Anglicans, on the other hand, thought the Quakers were trying even harder to stop fair voting by bringing more Germans and other people who weren't supposed to vote. This was also true.

Election Day Chaos

On October 1, 1742, the day of the "Bloody Election," violence broke out between the Quakers and the Anglican Proprietary Party. Voting was supposed to happen in the "Market Place" for both the city and county elections, starting at 9:00 AM. City officials had asked people not to carry weapons because they were worried about fighting.

At the voting place, the two sides argued again about who should be the election inspectors. While they were debating, about 50 to 80 sailors, carrying clubs and other blunt objects, gathered in the crowd. Just as Isaac Norris II was chosen as an inspector, the group of sailors violently attacked the crowd.

Even though the sailors were breaking things and hurting many people, William Allen was asked to call them off. But he said the sailors had as much right to be there as the Dutch and Germans. Eventually, German and Dutch citizens grabbed whatever they could find, like makeshift weapons, and fought back against the sailors. The sailors then ran away to their ships.

What Happened After

Many people blamed William Allen for the riots. Because of this, the riot actually helped the Quakers politically. They did much better in the elections that followed, and the Anglican Proprietary Party lost by a lot. Reports showed that many voters changed their ballots, crossing out their original vote for the Anglican party and instead voting for the Quaker Party.

Fifty-four sailors and some party leaders were put in jail. William Allen, the Anglican leader, tried to clear his name. He sued one of the Quaker leaders for saying that Allen had planned the attack. The matter was given to the Quaker-led Assembly for investigation, even though Allen didn't want them to handle it.

The Assembly said they were investigating because the public was upset, but it's likely that wasn't entirely true. After questioning 49 witnesses, most of whom were Quakers and none of whom were sailors, the Assembly decided that Allen, his business partner, the mayor, and two others (all Anglicans) should be investigated. They were accused of not doing their jobs properly and trying to go against the Pennsylvania Charter. The Assembly ruled that Allen was the one who started the riot. After months of investigation, they sent the case to the Supreme Court, which was controlled by the Quakers.

The Governor, who was an Anglican, said that the city's Mayor's Court should handle the case. This meant the Recorder, Alderman, and Mayor (all Anglicans) would hear it. The Assembly protested, saying the Mayor was one of the accused and shouldn't hear his own case. Eventually, the Quakers came up with a compromise. All the accusations were dropped, and the original lawsuit was also dropped. Steps were then taken to make clear rules for elections and to prevent future riots.

The Philadelphia Election Riot, along with other similar events in cities like New York and Boston around the same time, helps us understand the American Revolution better. These riots showed a big change in how people interacted with their government. People from all walks of life started getting involved. They formed political clubs, used strong words in political writings, and even organized groups to cause trouble for political reasons.