Gordon Riots

The Gordon Riots in London in 1780 involved several days of unrest and violence motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began on 2 June 1780 with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778 (18 Geo. 3. c. 60), which had somewhat reduced official discrimination against British Catholics enacted by the Popery Act 1698 (11 Will. 3. c. 4). The Protestant Association, headed by Lord George Gordon, MP, noted that the law (also known as the Catholic Relief Act) enabled Catholics to join the British Army and warned that the relaxation might enable Catholic soldiers to plot treason. The resultant protest led to widespread rioting and looting, including attacks on the buildings of Newgate Prison and of the Bank of England, and was the most destructive in the history of London. Violence started on 2 June 1780, with the looting and burning of Catholic chapels in foreign embassies. Local magistrates, afraid of drawing the mob's anger, did not invoke the Riot Act. There was no repression until the government finally sent in the army, resulting in an estimated 300–700 deaths. The main violence lasted until 9 June 1780. The riots occurred near the height of the American War of Independence of 1775 to 1783, at a time when the Kingdom of Great Britain, with no major allies, not only had an American colonial rebellion to suppress, but had also become embroiled in wars against France and Spain, and would soon go to war against the Dutch Republic as well. Public opinion, especially in middle-class and elite circles, repudiated anti-Catholicism and lower-class violence, and rallied behind Lord North's government. Many urgently demanded the formation of a police force. There appeared painted on the wall of Newgate Prison a proclamation that the inmates had been freed by the authority of "His...