P.+Brett



Group Members: Josh Huffman, Brett Pless

1. Briefly summarize what happened in March 1863 inSalisbury: On the 18th of March, 1863, the streets ofSalisbury,North Carolina, were invaded by a group of about 50 determined local women, identified only as wives and mothers of Confederate soldiers. The women believed that local merchants had been profiteering by raising the prices of necessary foods and demanded that the merchants sell these goods at government prices. When the merchants refused, the women broke down one shop door with hatchets and threatened other storekeepers. What a local newspaper described as the “Female Raid” netted the women twenty-three barrels of flour as well as quantities of molasses, salt, and even twenty dollars in cash. 2. Is this article primarily factual reporting, primarily editorial opinion, or a combination of the two? Please note relevant examples of factual reporting and opinion. I think that it is a fact because it happened and you can look up info on it and find something about it that shows it actually happened.

3. Why did the women participate in the bread riot? In the absence of husbands and fathers, these women acted out of necessity, but their actions were part of a much older tradition that dated back to sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuryEurope. Historically, when merchants raised prices unfairly, women in the community took matters into their own hands. As part of the tradition of a bread riot, the women at first offered to purchase the goods at a fair price. If the merchant refused, as these men inSalisburydid, the women took the food by force. It was traditionally women who participated in food riots because wives and mothers were responsible for purchasing food for their families, and authorities were unlikely to arrest and imprison wives and mothers who were taking food for their families.

4. Is there evidence that the shopkeepers were speculating and asking prices that were unfair, given the wartime circumstances? Yes, they were rising all the prices.

5. Does this article seem to support the women or the shopkeepers or both? It supports the women.

6. What is the writer’s opinion of the Commissioners? The writer agree with the Commissioners.

7. Do you think that this article was fair and balanced in its coverage of the riot? Yes

All the info was from: []