The Road to Rebellion

In this essay, Dr. Erik J. Chaput and Russell DeSimone examine and contextualize the events surrounding the Dorr Rebellion of 1842 and the consequences that followed for those involved, primarily Providence attorney Thomas Wilson Dorr, who was the figurehead of one of the most significant constitutional reform efforts in antebellum American history. This essay, along with a collection of letters it accompanies on our Dorr Rebellion Letters project site, examines the momentous importance of the rebellion in terms of local Rhode Island history and national constitutional reform. The Dorr Rebellion Project http://library.providence.edu/dorr The Dorr Letters Project http://library.providence.edu:8080/xtf/index.htm