Multiple rebellions and closely related events have occurred in the United States, beginning from the colonial era up to present day. Events that are not commonly named strictly a rebellion (or using synonymous terms such as "revolt" or "uprising"), but have been noted by some as equivalent or very similar to a rebellion (such as an insurrection), or at least as having a few important elements of rebellion (such as an armed occupation of government property), are also included in this list. Anti-government acts by individuals are not included.
| Name | Date | Location | Events | Rebel Groups | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bacon's Rebellion | 1676 | Colony of Virginia | Bacon's forces attacked many of the neighboring Native tribes before driving governor William Berkeley from the capitol of Jamestown, burning the city.[1] | Virginian settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon | Suppressed by the Virginian colonial authorities after receiving reinforcements from privateer Thomas Larimore. The rebel forces, being composed of a mix of classes and races – many slaves and indentured whites among them – inspired the passing of the Virginia Slave Codes of 1705.[2] | |
| Boston Revolt | April 18, 1689 | Dominion of New England | Popular uprising against the rule of Edmund Andros, the governor of the Dominion of New England. Dominion officials were arrested. Members of the Church of England were also taken into custody if they were believed to sympathize with the administration of the dominion.[3] | Boston colonists | Militia took control of Boston, reestablishing the Colony of Massachusetts Bay and ending the Dominion of New England. Massachusetts' charter was permanently revoked in 1691. | |
| Leisler's Rebellion | 1689–1691 | Province of New York | German American merchant and militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of the southern portion of colonial New York and ruled it from 1689 to 1691.[4] | Leislerians | Nine Years War militia members rebelled, took control of New York City and made merchant Jacob Leisler governor. The crown retook control two years later and executed Leisler.[5] | |
| War of the Regulation | 1765 – May 16, 1771 | Colony of North Carolina | War of the Regulation Battle at the Yadkin River Battle of Alamance | Regulators | Result – Decisive government victory.[6] Royal governor of North Carolina, William Tryon and General Hugh Waddell (general) with 1,500 men; 2,300+ Regulators Led by Commanders and leaders Herman Husband, James Hunter, James Few (POW), Charles Harrington; Benjamin Merrill (POW) – Executed | |
| American Revolution | 1765–1783 | North America | American Revolutionary War Boston campaign Boston Massacre Pine Tree Riot | Thirteen Colonies | The Thirteen American Colonies rejected British colonial rule, overthrew the authority of the British Crown, and founded the United States of America. | |
| Shays' Rebellion | August 1786 – June 1787 | Western Massachusetts | Paper Money Riot | Anti-austerity protesters and discontented Revolutionary War veterans led by Daniel Shays | Rising up against economic injustices and suspension of civil rights by Massachusetts.[7] Won economic reforms in a landslide election shortly after protestors were dispersed by a privately raised militia at the Springfield Armory.[8] Contributed to the convocation of the Constitutional Convention after the government established by the Articles of Confederation could not raise troops. | |
| Whiskey Rebellion | 1791–1794 | Western Pennsylvania | Frontier tax protesters | Tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791, over 175 distillers from Kentucky were convicted of violating the tax law.[9] Suppressed by an army personally led by President Washington | No specific events | |
| Fries's Rebellion | 1799–1800 | Rebel farmers | Armed tax revolt among Pennsylvania Dutch farmers. Thirty men went on trial in Federal court.[10] | |||
| State of Muskogee | 1799–1803 | Florida | William Augustus Bowles, various tribes of Southeastern Native Americans | Bowles attempted to unite all the Native Americans to form a single country.[11] | Andrew Jackson destroyed the capitol Miccosukee—the largest town in Florida at the time—in 1817. | |
| 1811 German Coast Uprising | January 8–10, 1811 | Territory of Orleans | Rebel slaves | Between 64 and 125 enslaved men marched from sugar plantations near present-day LaPlace on the German Coast toward the city of New Orleans.[12] Militia companies were used to hunt down and kill the insurgents. | ||
| Nat Turner's slave rebellion | August 21 – 23, 1831 | Southampton County, Virginia | Rebel slaves | Led by Nat Turner, rebel slaves killed anywhere from 55 to 65 people.[13] The rebellion was put down within a few days.[14] Local blacks were massacred. Led to discriminatory legislation against both free blacks and slaves | ||
| Dorr Rebellion | 1841–42 | Rhode Island | Attempt to force a new government of Rhode Island under a new constitution that allowed more men to vote[15] | Dorrites | Charterite victory, but later legal expansion of voting rights | |
| 1842 Slave Revolt in the Cherokee Nation | 1842 | Indian Territory | Rebel slaves | Slaves escape and fight police, eventually captured.[16] | ||
| Anti-Rent War | 1839–1845 | Upstate New York | Anti-Renters | The tenants could not pay the amounts demanded, could not secure favorable terms, and could not obtain relief in the courts, so they revolted against the patroon system.[17] There were trials of leaders of the revolt. | ||
| Taos Revolt | January 19 – July 9, 1847 | New Mexico | Cienega Affair Las Vegas Affair Red River Canyon Affair Second Battle of Mora | Mexico Local rebels | New Mexicans and Pueblo allies rebel against the United States' occupation of present-day northern New Mexico during the Mexican-American War.[18] The rebels fought but after being defeated they abandoned open warfare. | |
| Cortina Troubles | July 13, 1859 – May 22, 1861 | Texas, Mexico-United States border | First Cortina War Second Cortina War | Mexico Cortinista Militias | Juan Cortina leads a large scale revolt among dissatisfied Hispanic ranchers along the Mexican border. Federal troops, local militias, Texan Rangers, and Confederate forces put down the rebels and expel the vaqueros. Juan Cortina escapes into Mexico.[19] | |
| John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry | October 16–18, 1859 | Harpers Ferry, Virginia | Abolitionists John Brown, Shields Green, John Henry Kagi and 21 known followers | Abolitionist John Brown initiates an armed slave revolt. Eleven rebels killed and eight captured by U.S. Marines led by Col. Robert E. Lee, Lt. J.E.B. Stuart, and Lt. Israel Greene. | ||
| American Civil War | April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865 | Southern United States | Eastern Theater of the American Civil War Western Theater of the American Civil War Lower Seaboard Theater of the American Civil War Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War Pacific Coast Theater of the American Civil War | Confederate States of America | Seven Southern slave states seceded from the United States of America in response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as president.[20] Four more Southern states seceded in response to Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion.[21] These states formed the Confederate States of America. After four years of bloody warfare and over one million total casualties, the Confederates were defeated and Union reestablished.[22] See Reconstruction for aftermath. | |
| New York City draft riots | July 13–16, 1863 | Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York | Riots expressing discontent with new draft law; white attack on blacks because of economic competition.[23] | Residents of New York City | New York Guard and Union Army troops restored order. | Largest civil and racially-charged insurrection in American history.[24] |
| Battle of Liberty Place | September 14, 1874 | New Orleans, Louisiana | White League | Attempted insurrection by the Crescent City White League against the Reconstruction Louisiana state government.[25] Federal troops restored the elected government. | Part of anti-Reconstruction violence against the Union. | |
| Election Riot of 1874 | November 3, 1874 | Eufaula, Alabama | White League | White supremacists take Republicans out of office and declared the Democrats as winners[26] | Part of anti-Reconstruction violence against the Union. | |
| Mason County War | February 18, 1875-December 1875 | Mason County, Texas | German-American Vigilantes | German settlers clash with Anglo-Saxon cattle rustlers and lynch several, forming mobs of vigilantes known as Hoodoos. Violence continues until Texas Rangers arrive and arrest criminals.[27] | ||
| Great Railroad Strike of 1877 | July 14-September 4, 1877 | Many cities across the United States, violence especially strong in Appalachia | Workingmen's Party, Railroad workers | Railroad workers go on strike after multiple wage cuts. An estimated 100 people are killed in clashes between militias, National Guard troops, police, and strikers.[28] Unions become more organized. Strikers win some compensation. States re-organize their National Guards. | ||
| Greenwood, New York, insurrection of 1882 | February 1882 | New York governor Alonzo Cornell proclaimed a state of insurrection after local residents resisted the seizure of property to pay for railroad bonds from the Rochester, Hornellsville, and Pine Creek Railroad.[29] Residents of Greenwood refused with violence and threats of more violence in response to the governor's attempts to get the citizens to pay a tax levied to repay money that Greenwood had borrowed to help construction of a never-built railroad. | Citizens of Greenwood | Taxes paid, insurrection ended at threat of calling out militia. | Molly Maguires said to be involved. | |
| Johnson County War | July 20,1889-May 24, 1893 | Johnson County Wyoming Powder River Country | Homesteaders | Grazing and water right disputes between cattle corporations and settlers explodes into violence.[30] |