In 1842, a group of agitated Rhode Island reformers under the leadership of Thomas Dorr forcibly seek to free their state from the shackles of the antiquated Royal Charter of 1663. Growing frustrated with repeated attempts at reform by peaceful means, Dorr’s followers, known as Dorrites, make a call to arms, plunging the tiny state into a democratic uprising. The Dorr Rebellion was a watershed in the history of states’ rights and a paradigm of early American radicalism. Read more about it!

The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.

The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.