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I have finished my final edit to the Snow Riot article. All information on the page before I edited it (four broken sentences) has been edited to its current state.

Outline of my edit to the current Snow Riot page:

  • Expand on the summary of what the Snow Riot is - only one sentence so far that is, "Snow Riot was a riot, and lynch mob in Washington, D.C. in 1835."
  • Expand on the history paragraph and include crucial background information on why it occurred.

Snow Riot of 1835 was a riot and lynch mob in Washington, D.C. in 1835. An attack on free blacks in the city by of whites, the Snow Riot wrecked havoc on anything affiliated with free blacks for days by mobbing and destroying all of their establishments. The name of the riot comes from the first destination the mob attacked, the restaurant owned by free black, Mr. Beverly Snow's Epicurean Eating House, located on the corner of 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. After attacking Snow's restaurant, the mob went and destroyed the school Arthur Bowen went to. They did this because he was suspected of being taught of the ability of abolishing slavery at this school, and the larger context was the white working-class men's frustration over their status as workers and resentment of black competition for jobs. The clear result was the unleashing of white terror against blacks.

History

The American Civil War started in 1861 [1], so The Snow Riot occurred over 25 years before the war between the North and the Confederate South.At this time period, the city of Washington was facing unprecedented tension between abolitionists and slavery defenders. The tension was so high because the largest amount of fatalities caused by a slave uprising occurred only a few years prior to the Snow Riot, the Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion of 1831[2]. Ever since this rebellion led by Nat Turner, widespread panic and fear spread across the States. Because of this, there were abolitionists flooding the city with extremely loud voices and protests for the removal of slaves in the nation's capital. However, there were also extremely high amounts of whites waiting for their moment to revenge the slave's uprising of 1831. The event that sparked the riots of Mr. Beverly Snow in 1835 was when an inebriated slave, Arthur Bowen, came into his Mistress' bedroom with an ax [3]. Bowen did not strike or attempt to strike his Mistress, but the shear fact that a slave had the opportunity to rebel against slave owners and whites infuriated slavery defenders in the city. Bowen was ultimately taken into custody without harm as this gave Pro-slavery white's an opportunity to go after the man leading the production and distribution of abolitionist material, Reuben Crandall. The man behind the idea of arresting Crandall was District Attorney Francis Scott Key[4], notorious writer of the United States' national anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner[5]. Key was actually a strong supporter of slavery, and he was the leading man behind coordinating the arrest of Crandall. This arrest of Crandall sparked a huge mob of whites in the Capital, attacking all establishments run by free blacks: schools, churches and businesses. The first place the mob attacked was the Epicurean Eating House, a restaurant owned by Mr. Beverley Snow, a free black in the city. His restaurant was notorious in the city for serving very sophisticated and luxurious food, but it was ransacked to ruins by the mob in search of Snow because he was a free black owner. The mob searched for Snow, but were unable to find and capture him.

Beverley Snow's Background

A free black who lived in Washington, D.C. Snow was different than most free blacks, as he was extremely educated, wealthy, successful, and "perhaps even a bit snobbish". Beverly Snow was one of a number of black entrepreneurs who owned businesses in the downtown area. His success was evidence of the strength of Washington's free black population. He was the owner of a restaurant named the Epicurean Eating House in D.C. The Epicurean Eating House was the site of a riot in 1835 popularly known as the Snow Riot.

The stub article I will editing is the Snow Riot. [6]

Sources:

Morley, J. (2012). Snow-storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the forgotten race riot of 1835. New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday.

This is a book that includes first hand accounts and public records to re-create the characters and tensions that led to the event. This is a book that is available in Bucknell's library and is a credible source. This will supply a great background of what exactly the Snow Riot was and how it affected the Civil War and the history of the United States. This source is includes primary records from the time, so I will try to use that information significantly.

Asch, C. M. (January 01, 2012). Book Review: Snow-Storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the Forgotten Race Riot of 1835. Washington History, 24, 2, 168-170.

This is a book review for Snow-storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the forgotten race riot of 1835, which is the book I will be using above. This source is also available from Bucknell's collection from JSTOR Arts & Sciences Database, so it is a reliable source. This will be key for the understanding of the event, as it provides a summary of the book in a much shorter version. It will be able to teach me about the Snow Riot and the events that occurred, so this source is extremely valuable.

Morley, J. (2013). Snow-storm in August: The struggle for American freedom and Washington's race riot of 1835.

This book is also written by the same author as my first book. The book also provides information on the Snow Riot and comes from WorldCat's database, so it is a credible source. I will be able to compare this information with Morley's other book that will allow me to comprehend the event better.

Shiner, M., Sharp, J. G., & United States. (2008). The diary of Michael Shiner relating to the history of the Washington Navy Yard 1813-1865. Washington, D.C: Navy Dept. Library.

This book has information on the Snow Riot of 1835, and will provide another author's perspective on the events. Coming from WorldCat, it is a credible source. Because it is an ebook, I will be able to search for key words, which will allow me to locate specific information in the book a lot better than a physical text. Kjb033 (talk) 21:59, 20 October 2015 (UTC)

Feedback on Sources[edit]

I suspect the Morley book citations are for the same book, just different editions. You might want to search JSTOR or one of the other american history database for additional sources. KatieBU (talk) 20:32, 31 October 2015 (UTC)

  1. ^ "IMPORTANT PROCLAMATIONS.; The Belligerent Rights of the Rebels at an End. All Nations Warned Against Harboring Their Privateers. If They Do Their Ships Will be Excluded from Our Ports. Restoration of Law in the State of Virginia. The Machinery of Government to be Put in Motion There". The New York Times. 1865-05-10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  2. ^ "Bad title". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ Asch, Chris Myers (2012-01-01). "Review". Washington History. 24 (2): 168–170.
  4. ^ "Francis Scott Key". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ "The Star-Spangled Banner". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ "Snow Riot". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)