Detroit, how hast thou fallen?

January 19, 2006 11:47 AM

"Oh, Detroit! Detroit, how hast thou fallen! No power in noonday to defend the helpless women and children from outlaws, till they have fully glutted their hellish appetites on the weak and defenseless." This full-text version of A Thrilling Narrative From the Lips of the Sufferers of the Late Detroit Riot, March 6, 1863, with the Hair Breadth Escapes of Men, Women and Children, and Destruction of Colored Men's Property, Not Less Than $15,000 contains firsthand testimonies from African American victims of this forgotten race/draft riot, which was overshadowed by a much larger one in New York City. [more inside]
posted by goatdog (8 comments total)

Since it's a bit long, here are some highlights: a summary and an assertion that the cause of the riot was a white man; the source of my opening quote; the death of Joseph/Joshua Boyd, the only person killed; resolutions passed in the wake of the riot by the African American community; a poem summarizing all of this written by an African American.
posted by goatdog at 11:48 AM on January 19, 2006

this is great! thanks!
posted by mrs.pants at 12:07 PM on January 19, 2006

Seven or eight years later, the two girls recanted their charges and Faulkner was released from prison. As an apology, the city of Detroit bought him a vegetable stand, which he ran until he died. (No link for that, sorry: I did a paper in grad school about this.)
posted by goatdog at 12:20 PM on January 19, 2006

Great link, I just assigned it to my history class. They thank you.
posted by LarryC at 12:23 PM on January 19, 2006

This is really interesting.
posted by bardic at 1:19 PM on January 19, 2006

Fantastic post. Thanks, goatdog.
posted by languagehat at 2:16 PM on January 19, 2006

Very cool. As a one-time historian of Detroit, I always love to learn new things about the fascinating past of such a great city.
posted by PhatLobley at 7:41 PM on January 19, 2006

Wow, this is really great.
posted by smich at 8:08 PM on January 19, 2006