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The Richmond Bread Riot occurred on April 2, 1863 at the Confederate capitol of Richmond, Virginia and was a mob riot that consisted mostly of women. The women were workers in Confederate ordinance establishments and the wives of the Tredegar Iron Works laborers. This riot was the largest and most destructive in the South during the Civil War. On April 1st a group of women assembled at Belvidere Hill Baptist Church located in the Oregon Hill neighborhood of the city. On the following day and Led by Mary Jackson and Minerva Meredith, the group marched to Capitol Square for a solution for their starvation from the governor, John Letcher. Letcher refused to see the women and they went unacknowledged. The Confederate government offered no assistant to its starving people. This only further angered the discontented citizens. Frustrated and lacking options, the women then began to protest. They gathered around a statue of George Washington and began chanting, “Bread! Bread! Bread!” The women marched out of Capitol Square toward Ninth Street, which was the location of the city's business district. As the women walked, they attracted more followers. The event went from verbal protest to violent mob riot and the members began breaking into stores through shattered windows and stealing food, clothing, and other merchandise. The mob ceased their destruction when the militia arrived.

Government Reaction

Mayor John Mayo arrived, reading aloud the Riot Act to the mob. The rioters ignored Mayor Mayo. Shortly after, Governor Fletcher arrived and offered no solution to the chaos. President Jefferson Davis then appeared at the riot, and possessing no solution to the starvation, he gave a speech. Davis threw all the money he had in the direction of the crowd and saying, “You say you are hungry and you have no money- here is all I have.” Jefferson then ordered the crowd to disperse or he would have the militia fire at them.

Aftermath

The city council met that afternoon. Over sixty men and women were arrested and tried in connection to the riot. Some were fined while some faced more serious jail time. Those who were well dressed and appeared wealthier received lesser punishments that those who were leaders of the riot or who appeared to be members of the working class. Although the riot seemed unsuccessful at first with the protesters leaving hungry and empty handed, it proved later to make a change. State and city authorities reacted by increasing funds for the poor and establishing a "free market" to purchase necessities which were sold to city residents at reasonable prices. Efforts to control prices, supply provisions, and ease suffering occurred at the federal, state, and local levels. Although the City Council did decide to increase their efforts in helping the poor they deemed those who participated in the riots “unworthy” of their assistance. Unfortunately, no government official found a truly effective way to help even those they considered “worthy” poor; the impoverished continued to starve.

Background

The Richmond Bread Riot was one of a series of riots taking place in the Confederacy. Rioters broke into and destroyed grocery stores. A series of events lead up to the riots. The riots can be blamed on a combination of events: population increase, government created inflation, the Drought of 1862, and the harsh winter of 1863. The Confederacy didn’t prepare itself to feed their army as well as an entire civilian population during wartime. They didn’t believe that starvation would be a major problem for them and they expected that farmers and black slaves to provide food for there war efforts and civilian families. They did not, however, take into consideration the struggles, both man made and natural, that they might have to face. The population had increased to more than 100,000 by the midpoint of the war. The inflation was largely caused by Congress's passage of an Impressment Act, as well as a tax law deemed "confiscatory," this led to prices being driven up on desperately needed consumer goods. The Confederate lawmakers were suspicious of a strong government and therefore refused to levy taxes in order to finance the war. This decision guaranteed inflation and with no money to finance the war, soldiers were not properly fed. Unable to fight in their malnourished conditions, soldiers looked to illegally obtain food from private farms for survival. With food already scarce, the drought created a poor harvest that would not be enough to feed the people of the confederacy or be profitable for the farmers. The price of wheat tripled and the price of milk and butter quadrupled. Also, farmers weren’t growing food because tobacco and cotton was cheaper and thus, more profitable. The confederate army faced the food shortage as well and began taking food and stock from privately owned property and farms. In battle, the farms were stripped of their goods to feed soldiers. Richmond also faced a snowy, harsh winter, making the transportation of food and other goods nearly impossible. Facing a detrimental shortage, the people of the Confederacy were unable to afford food or the necessities for survival. Outraged, and blaming the government for this misfortune, they began to protest and turned to violence. They formed mobs, attacking and pillaging stores for their food and merchandise. Richmond, Virginia was especially hit by the economic crisis. Northern and southern armies stripped its surrounding farms in order to feed their soldiers, and with an increasing population, the food source couldn’t be stretched enough to feed Richmond’s inhabitants. Therefore, of the riots increasing in the south, that of Richmond was the largest and most damaging, reflective of the suffering faced by its people.

Significance

The Virginians needs were going unacknowledged and the farmers and other working class citizens possessed no voice in the Confederate government. The Bread Riots were a way for ordinary Virginians to reach government officials and urge them to take action against the runaway inflation. Confederate general John Winder attempted to regulate prices in Virginia through martial law. Though Winder’s attempts proved unsuccessful, citizens were appreciative of his efforts and hoped that more officials would take similar action. Neither the Confederate or state government took much effective action against the inflation, only preserving the civil unrest among the Confederate citizens. The Riots were representative of the increasing struggle faced by these people during wartime. This suffering was not only occurring in Virginia but throughout the Confederacy. Similar revolts occurred in Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, and Macon Georgia; in Salisbury and High Point, North Carolina; and in Mobile Alabama. State and local governments in those areas handled the issue by extending their help to the poor just as the Virginia government had. However, the economic struggle faced by these people was too devastating and the citizens were unable to provide for themselves and their families during the war. Food prices had increased by ten times from 1860 to 1863 and the Confederate people, a majority of them being farmers, were going hungry. The further into the war that the Confederates went and the more of their land that was occupied by soldiers, the more devastating the economic crisis and their starvation and poverty. Aside from the obvious effect of starvation, the suffering also caused increase criticism of government as well as decreased morale among soldiers and civilians alike. Poverty and starvation among the citizens significantly undermined the war efforts. The situation became increasingly desperate, thus increasing the demoralization amongst the Confederacy and taking a significant toll on the Confederate fight against the North.