List of riots in Philadelphia explained

The following is a partial list of riots and protests involving violent disorder that have occurred in Philadelphia:

• 1704 Riot of Young Gentry in Philadelphia^[1]
• 1715 riot by supporters of Reverend Francis Phillips, who had been arrested for stating he had slept with three prominent local women^[2]
• 1726 riot against pillory and stocks^[3]
• 1738 riot against restrictions on fish weirs and racks on the Schuykill River^[3]
• Philadelphia Election riot, a conflict in 1742 over the political balance between Quakers and Anglicans
• 1834 Philadelphia race riot, where a white mob attacked African Americans in Moyamensing
• Pennsylvania Hall riot, an 1838 riot where a venue was attacked by anti-abolitionists
• Lombard Street riot, an 1842 riot where black freemen were attacked by an Irish Catholic mob
• Philadelphia nativist riots, in May and June 1844, against Irish Catholic immigrants
• Race riots in Philadelphia during the 1919 Red Summer, a series of riots against Southern black migration to the city
• 1964 Philadelphia race riot, one of the first in the civil rights era, triggered by police brutality
• George Floyd protests in Philadelphia in 2020
• Walter Wallace riots, a police killing that led to riots in 2020

Notes and References

1. Book: Strain of Violence: Historical Studies of American Violence and Vigilantism. 978-0-19-802017-2. 2 January 1975. Oxford University Press.
2. Book: Old City Philadelphia: Cradle of American Democracy. 9780738524450. 2003. Arcadia.
3. Book: The Environment and the People in American Cities, 1600s-1900s: Disorder, Inequality, and Social Change. 9780822392248. 23 November 2009. Duke University Press.