1842-C LIBERTY $5, SMALL DATE MS62

By 1842 the industrial revolution was in full swing and had proved to be an amazing phenomenon that led to economic advancement and gave us the concept of mass production. All things that glisten are not gold however, as the revolution led to population shift and housing trends that brought light to outdated and troublesome laws. The small state of Rhode Island, for example, felt the pangs of industrialization when its outdated constitution created unfair government representation. When the colony of Rhode Island was settled it received a charter in 1663 from the King that allowed it to govern itself, which they simply adopted as their constitution. Within the document, it outlined who was allowed to vote- white men who owned land- which made sense at the time because most settlers were white farmers who grabbed whatever land they pleased. By 1842, however, housing trends had changed as immigrants and factory workers moved into towns and rented rather than owned, which in turn gave voting power to rural elitists who did not represent majority interests. As a result, Lawyer Thomas Wilson Dorr created the People’s Party of Providence, which he hoped would terminate the outdated constitution. Dorr’s ideas were met with major opposition among the elitists who did not want to give their power away, despite Dorr’s peaceful approach. Eventually after the party’s constitutional proposal failed Dorr and his Dorrites took a more extreme approach and split the Rhode Island governments. At this point Rhode Island was run by two governors which did not sit well with the elected governor, Samuel King. After King asked the federal government for counsel, which Dorr responded to with a trip to DC and a plead case, he had no other choice but to incite Marshal Law and put a bounty on Dorr. Among the chaos, Dorrites disbanded the People’s Party but Dorr still planned takeover coups that included a botched arsenal attack, and a failed “army” march after which he sought refuge in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Fortunately, his efforts were not futile and a new constitution that allowed all U.S. born white men to vote was adopted the next year despite Dorr’s arrest and he is still recognized as a prominent Rhode Island figure.