AP EXAM: rebellions & riots

Question 1

Bacons Rebellion

Answer 1

• 1676
• Frontier settler’s resentment toward Governor Berkley’s policies favoring Native Americans and wealthy elites
• First colonial uprising against authority; led to shift toward African slavery over indentured servants

Question 2

Pueblo Revolt

Answer 2

• 1680
• Spanish suppression of Native religion and culture
• Successful Native American uprising; temporarily drove Spanish out of New Mexico

Question 3

Stono Rebellion

Answer 3

• 1739
• Enslaved Africans seeking freedom in Spanish Florida
• Largest slave revolt in colonial America; led to stricter slave codes

Question 4

Pontiac’s Rebellion

Answer 4

• 1763
• Native resistance to British expansion into the Great Lakes region after the French and Indian War
• Led to the Proclamation of 1763, which restricted colonial expansion west of the Appalachians

Question 5

Paxton Boys Rebellion

Answer 5

• 1764
• Anger over lack of protection from Native attacks
• Highlighted tensions between backcountry settlers and colonial governments

Question 6

Shay’s Rebellion

Answer 6

• 1786-87
• Economic hardship, high taxes, and debt among farmers in Massachusetts
• Exposed weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation; contributed to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution

Question 7

Whiskey Rebellion

Answer 7

• 1794
• Opposition to a federal tax of whiskey
• Showed strength of new Constitution; federal government could enforce laws

Question 8

Haitian Slave Rebellion

Answer 8

• 1791-1804
• Harsh slavery conditions and inspiration from French Revolution
• Led to the first successful slave-led revolution; established Haiti as the first Black republic

Question 9

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

Answer 9

• 1831
• Brutal conditions of slavery; Turner claimed divine inspiration
• Deadliest slave uprising in U.S. history; resulted in harsher slave laws

Question 10

John Brown’s Raid

Answer 10

• 1859
• Abolitionist attempt to start a slave revolt by seizing the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry
• Heightened tensions between North and South; Brown became a martyr in the North

Question 11

New York City Draft Riots

Answer 11

• 1863
• Working-class anger over Civil War draft and racial tensions
• One of the largest civil insurrections in U.S. history; targeted Black citizens and wealthy elites

Question 12

Haymarket Square Riot

Answer 12

• 1886
• Labor rally turned violent after a bomb was thrown
• Led to backlash against labor unions and immigrants; 8 anarchists were convicted

Question 13

Homestead Strike

Answer 13

• 1892
• Steelworkers protesting wage cuts at Carnegie Steel
• Violent clash with Pinkertons; major defeat for organized labor

Question 14

Coxey’s Army

Answer 14

• 1894
• Unemployed workers marched on Washington during the Panic of 1893
• First protest march on D.C.; government ignored demands for jobs programs

Question 15

Pullman Strike

Answer 15

• 1894
• Wage cuts without lowered rent in company-owned housing
• Nationwide railroad strike; federal troops intervened; established precedent for government siding with business

Question 16

Anthracite Coal Mine Strike

Answer 16

• 1902
• Coal miners demanded higher wages and shorter hours
• First time federal government intervened as a neutral arbitrator in labor disputes (under Teddy Roosevelt)

Question 17

Bonus Army

Answer 17

• 1932
• WWI veterans demanded early bonus payments during the Great Depression
• Protesters violently removed by U.S. Army; hurt Hoover’s reputation

Question 18

Watts Riot

Answer 18

• 1965
• Police brutality and racial tensions in Los Angeles
• Marked a shift toward more violent urban uprisings; foreshadowed broader unrest in the late 1960s

Question 19

Stonewall Rebellion

Answer 19

• 1969
• Police raid of a gay bar in NYC and years of LGBTQ+ oppression
• Catalyst for the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement