Director Public Programs for the Newport Historical society. This year, the 180th anniversary of the door rebellion, which is considered the most significant constitutional political event to occur in rhode Island History. During tonights lecture, dr. Chaput will explore the life of Thomas Wilson dorr and his attempt to overturn Rhode Islands existing government in the spring of 1842. He will focus heavily on the numerous newport connections to the story of dawes attempt at legal reform, including a lengthy trial, led to his imprisonment in 1844. A native Rhode Islanders erik chaput teaches at Providence College and at Western Reserve Academy. He holds a doctorate in American History from Maxwell School of citizenship and public at syracuse university. And he is the author of the people smarter. And is 1842 rhode island rebellion, which is available at newport history shop dot com. Dr. Chaput is the cocreator with historian rusty siman of the Award Winning dore rebellion project website in addition to his work on rhode Island History. Dr. Has published numerous articles on politics in the civil war era. Before we officially begin the presentation, i wanted to remind you to please type any questions into the chat. I will share them with dr. Chaput during the q a when he has completed his presentation. I would like to turn things over to erik chaput. Thank you very for that kind introduction. Its wonderful to be with you. Virtually. I wish i could do this in person, but hopefully in the near future i can. I can get back to rhode island as elizabeth i am currently in ohio. Im at western reserve to you right now from Western Reserve Academy in hudson, which is just south of cleveland by about 35 minutes. And i probably might not have been to get there anyway. Theres a big storm system that is coming our way off the lake and its going to impacting travel. So probably best actually that im on on zoom with you here this evening but its a true honor when my book came out and 2013 i had the opportunity to give a talk at the colony house. And i want to thank elizabeth for that, for many years ago. And to my friend bert lippincott, who my mentioned in certain points some of the material thats in the possession of the Newport Historical society that was instrumental for me writing and writing the book and for any teachers on the call at the end, i hope in the that we can talk a little bit about the door rebellion project website that ive had the privilege to be connected to for the last decade thats sponsored by Providence College. And weve done some recent updates for guides, all aimed at teachers. So once again, if youre any any educator on the call, please hang on. And id love to chat with you at the end about teaching and show you this cool website that problems college help to put together. A decade ago and weve done about four updates to the site and working on a fifth update right now to bring more material, you know, to help teachers get this material into the classrooms. Im going to share my right now and get and kind of get underway here once again. Please do hesitate to drop things into the chat room and be a privilege to kind of hang on a little bit longer here tonight and have a chance to have a dialog about the door rebellion or other aspects, American History that i will raise tonight. So let me start here. Im going to start in 1844. Elizabeth mentioned a moment ago, a betrayal of door. So i think thats a good place to kind of begin this evening a little bit in the colony house. So in june of 1844, in the upper chambers of the colony house in newport is famed washington square, Thomas Wilson dore stood trial for treason. Two years earlier or forcibly tried to implement the peoples constitution a document under which he was elected governor that he believed had replaced the antiquated colonial thought of 1663 prior to dawes election. The peoples governor in april of 1842, chief justice jobe durfee had departed from the rules of judicial propriety and toward the state, speaking out against the peoples constitution. Now durfee at tiverton, native the responsibilities of presiding a trial that could very well and with a trip to the gallows. The door door was on trial facing judge that just weeks before had sentenced the irish immigrant john gordon to the gallows for the murder of a massive sprague, a wealthy cranston door was well acquainted with joe durfee in the 1830s he appeared before him times as an attorney and i cases in 1833. As i was just mentioning to elizabeth a few moments ago, ive done quite a bit of work on and hopefully to have it in print soon door it was a lawyer actually hired the state in its sensational murder trial and durfee was the judge it a trial that was even more shocking. Those of you who might know anything about the avery, the horrible haystack murder of that same year, this trial took place a little bit later in 1833 and is certainly not as well known as that trial to, the horrible haystack murder, the trial about for mayberry. But dore participated, in numerous murder trials and other high profile cases and his time as an attorney, but certainly more than this trial of francis for the murder of Sally Burdick door knew, though, as he was in 1844 in front of durfee that his maybe of walking out of that courtroom a free man were not that good. There is little room for doubt the strength of dawes conviction that had the right to alter or their frame of government and indeed at the trial. He said it repeatedly, according to dorr, the signing of the declaration of independence and the success of the revolution itself meant that the right to revolution was an inherent right in the people which they could at all times peacefully exercise door took the opportunity in the trial once again to espouse political ideology, which he was very consistent about. From 1840 onward and in some ways it resembles how john brown approached his trial in 1859 after his failed attempt grade at harpers ferry. Of course, dorr would survive and not be executed and brown would be, though he would be convicted. It mattered little. Little however, for chief Justice Jeffries to the jury. Left no room for debate. It may be, gentlemen, that he really himself to be the governor, the state, and that he acted throughout under this delusion, however, it is defense to an indictment for the violation of any law for the defendant to come to court and say, i thought that i was. But exercising constitutional right and claim an acquittal on the grounds that i made a mistake. Jeffrey said there was no doubt that dawes actions constituted a levy of war. The door was found guilty. He was sent to providence by ferry on june 27th, 1844, where he entered the new state prison on the cold. And he had number, which was dawes, a famous from 1844, as his trial connected to the president ial election of that year the door and was known as prisoner number 56 this is from a collection at the hay library. During his time in prison on an interesting side note, he had a lot of time and painted these exquisite hand fans, which we have on the doorbell project website. And these are owned by risley. I think its important to out early in our time this evening that the citizens of Newport County a significant role in both the origins, the course of browns crisis and constitution as the rebellion came to an official end at the colony house in many ways but the citizens of Newport County played a role both the origins and the course of. Rhode islands crisis and constitutionalism duty. Pierce, one of doras closest political, whose papers are meticulously preserved at the Newport Historical society and i had the privilege of looking at them with the aid of bert lippincott, the wonderful archivist at Newport Historical pierce was, a prominent attorney and former u. S. Congressman of 12 years in washington. He was a prominent whig former state attorney general, and once again, papers are preserved at the Newport Historical society and a new project. Im working on an update to the diary building project website. Pierce is a character in our how we are chronicling the gag rule debate not only at the national level. The gag rule prevented essentially petitions from being fully debated and really read out on the floor of congress if they, with slavery at the state level. There was also significant discussion about the gag rule in 1837 and 38 and 39. And were looking at judi pierce as a central player because he was in congress at this point as a representative. But also was writing about this to other folks in the state. As well get into tonight the Rhode Island Suffrage Association and Thomas Wilson dorr were responding to. Another newport famous politician, benjamin hazzard, who nearly singlehandedly prevented rhode island from adopting a modern constitution. Born in middletown in 1770, hazzard represented newport of the General Assembly for 31 years. Once again, hazzard is also a key player in the update that were working on for the door project website, as hazzard supported the gag and espouses some very strict proslavery rhetoric on the floor of the rhode island assembly, that was really no different. You would see from a slaveholder from South Carolina in may 1842. Newport representative richard kay randolph played a crucial in derailing doras hopes of garnering federal support. The virginia born randolph was married to a famous newport anna marie lyman finally newport sizable militia was always at the ready to board the ferry to providence to put down militia units that were loyal to thomas dorr here tonight to learn a bit more about a man who was referred to as wilson by his siblings. So who was Thomas Wilson dorr . He was into wealth and privilege in 1805. Thomas dorsey as a young man destined to take his among Rhode Islands upper echelon, he studied at Phillips Exeter academy boarding school in New Hampshire, the most prestigious boarding schools at the time. The door went to it and. Certainly today he went on to harvard and then columbia law. It seemed that was destined to lead a life of leisure and civic. He would certainly earn his in the history books, but it was not quite in the way that his father, sullivan and his mother, lydia, had hoped. In the eyes of the citys elite, in the eyes of providences elite, by 1842, the year of the rebellion, the three year old thomas dorr was a saint harmonious, deluded demagogue, bent destruction. This comes so clearly as you read these letters that are preserved not only at the Newport Historical society around historical, citing the john hay library, let me read a portion of a letter for a moment from lydia in sullivan dorr, writing to their son. And thats the image of sullivan on the screen sullivan, daw and both said it grieves us to the heart to know that a son of ours arrived that so mature and age and so well versed in the laws of his country should be a participant in x calculate to to bring the state into destruction arouse passions which you cannot allay and which, god forbid, produce civil strife attended with bloodshed and murder. We beseech, we pray you to pause before you pass the rubicon and become engulfed in political degradation where our feeble prayers will not avail to save you disgrace and ruin doors. Parents really regarded him some ways as a one man bonfire of the vanities. So why rhode island . Why 1542 and why thomas this is an image of doors mother lydia from the rhode island that christie so the origins of what became known as doors rebellion, they deepen the states history. The political culture of rhode island was certainly unique. Democracy flourished in rhode island in 1663, colonial charter granted by king charles. The second, however restrictive clauses based on stringent qualifications prevented ways of immigrants, mostly Irish Catholics, in the 1820s and thirties, from entering the body politic. The charter restricted suffrage to those men possessing real estate figure set in the year 1798 at 134, thereby most of the population, the commercial and Manufacturing Districts who were renting their dwellings. The election of 1840 was a watershed moment. Huge rallies connected this election all across the country. Without question, though, certainly in rhode island, the rise of a stable two party system in the jacksonian period led to increased efforts by Political Parties to seek out groups of people that had previously been locked out of the political process. Workers labors, womens rights advocates began using the declaration of independence to justify their quest for equality in their opposition and security. Then the rhode island suffrage that was formed in this period, you can see the size of the crowd as to why dorr emerged that the intellectual spokesmen of the common man in this particular on screen he was many ways the preeminent reformer of his era in rhode island in the 1830s in the economic realm drafted a major piece of legislation that provided government regulation of state chartered banks. He worked for the abolition. She did the abolishment of imprisonment, death. He was an ardent abolitionist and antislavery advocate, serving on the executive committee of the rhode island antislavery society. He was also a leading educational reformer, pioneering the constructions of the states first high school. By the end of 1841, he had become leading figure once again in the Rhode Island Suffrage Association. Over three day period in late december. 1841, through the workings of this group, an overwhelming majority of Rhode Islanders, almost 14,000 in favor cast a ballot for what had become known as the peoples constitution. Again, it was being driven by Organization Convention that they held. Here are some political ribbons from the summer of 1841 that gives a sense of what the group is about. The people of a sovereign power will be we will have our rights. These were ribbons that would have been these are from the private collection. A dear friend of mine, russell, this man who lives in middletown and russell, i or the number of different articles together, the rebellion along with working on the diary billion project website. Anyone who works on rhode Island History in the 18th or 19th century has probable we talked to rusty sanborn at some point. Heres another one. Im an american citizen. This from a little earlier in the spring of 41. And just one more of these incredible ribbons again that were once the main item for a constitution in, equal rights, referring to the Suffrage Association and intellectual spokesmen thomas dorr, elijah potter, prominent lawyer. A larger part of jr. A prominent lawyer from south kingstown. I declared that those who have raised storm may not be able, though to govern it. Potter proclaimed his affinity for what he called the old under the charter that granted disproportionate amount of power to the agrarian areas of rhode island. But he recognized that there was a democratic tide that was sweeping the state, that could not be turned back. It is probably settled, potter said, that we must have free suffrage, but the way must it be brought about for potter in order for constitution change to be legal, it had to come from the sitting General Assembly and not an extra legal convention. Potters would be adopted certainly by wills. We get into in a moment the law and order party in rhode island, but also in many ways the powers of washington. The president. Ill come back to john tyler in a moment and eventually then the Supreme Court later in the year 1848. As you get into the spring of 42, there were two government in rhode island, one claiming legitimacy, a colonial charter that no mode for amendment the other claiming legitimacy from a constitu adopted by the majority of citizens. But in an extralegal plebiscite, the new Political Party had been created. Thats an image of of elijah potter. Youve never seen that before. And here is the man that was going into his third term as governor of the state, Samuel Ward King from johnston. He became the nominal head of this law and order instead. Have a lot of fun with images when. I was writing my book and dissertation and theres a wonderful archivist at the rhode island Historical Society named j. D. Came we often joke that we thought that Samuel Ward King looked like the guitarist that you might know well from the rolling stones. So we kind of played around a little bit with it, with the images time because we thought he looked like keith richards. I did not put that in the book, though. I was tempted to do that. Perhaps something to divide within the ranks of the law and order party door was fully confident in victory in april, early april of 42, he wrote to duty pearces good friend in newport about the high level he felt of support, mainly in providence county. He clearly expected his support to hold fast in the face of any type of opposition. They would see the charter government nor wrote this interesting what i was it a determined defense in return for the first blow is the purpose of the people woonsocket door said had been armed and equipped with 200 men. Yesterday another hundred men toda