Riots in Detroit, Michigan, have occurred since the city was founded in 1701. This area was settled by various ethnicities following thousands of years of indigenous history. During the colonial period, it was nominally ruled by France and Great Britain before the border was set in the early 19th century and it became part of the United States. The first riot, social unrest related to enabling fugitive slaves to escape to Canada, was recorded in 1833. Other riots were related to business protests, unions, and other issues.
In the late 20th century, the 1967 Detroit riot broke out, fueled by African-American frustration with continuing racial discrimination and injustice. A total of 43 people died, and property damage was extensive. This was ranked as one of the deadliest civil disturbances in the United States.
1833
The first recorded riot in Detroit, Michigan broke out on June 17, 1833. The state had prohibited slavery and was considered free. Because of its proximity to Canada, across the Detroit River, the city became a station on the Underground Railroad by which refugee slaves from the South sought freedom. Some also settled here rather than continuing out of the country.
In 1833 a fugitive slave couple, Thornton and Ruthie Blackburn, had been apprehended by slave catchers in the city and were to be returned to their master in Kentucky, under the US Fugitive Slave Act. A crowd of black residents had gathered at the Wayne County Jail in protest over a court verdict upholding the claim by agents of the Kentucky master. As Thornton Blackburn was led to a waiting steamer by sheriff John Wilson, the sheriff was attacked by a mob. This enabled the Blackburns to escape to Windsor, Ontario. Thirty persons of color were subsequently arrested for conspiring to free the Blackburns, in violation of provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law.
1849
On December 13, 1849, more than 60 shop owners along Gratiot Avenue destroyed tracks of the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad, which had been laid along the road and interfered with their businesses. After the tracks were relaid, they were destroyed again by rioters. The railroad rerouted their tracks in 1852.
1855–59
During this period, large groups of men, predominantly ethnic German, attacked brothels in the east side German neighborhoods that catered to black men. During this period, there were 12 disturbances in which a total of at least 17 brothels were either seriously damaged or destroyed, all on the east side, around the present-day Lafayette Park area. Usually anywhere between 50 and 300 rioters ordered prostitutes and their customers out of the brothels before vandalizing them.
1863
This was a riot of mostly ethnic Irish against blacks, in reaction to the draft. The Irish immigrants did not want to be drafted in the Civil War, as they saw it, for the benefit of African Americans, and the fact that wealthy Americans could buy their way out of the draft. There was wide spread suspicion that Irish troops were intentionally being used in hopeless military situations as opposed to mostly native regiments and the fact that thousands of Irish immigrants had lost their lives in previous battles, particularly the Union Disaster at Fredericksburg. A similar, but larger and more damaging riot occurred in New York City.
1891
On April 23, 1891, workers of the privately run trolley system walked off their jobs in protest of pay and conditions. During three days of rioting, in which streetcars were stoned, horses were unhitched, and rails were torn apart. By the third day, rioters formed barriers in some neighborhoods, further crippling transit service. Among the rioters was future Detroit mayor and US Senator James Couzens. A similar streetcar riot broke out in 1918.
1894
An ongoing economic depression strained relations among the growing immigrant ethnic communities, Detroit's leaders, and wealthy citizens. On April 18, 1894, mostly Polish immigrant workers on an excavation project for the Water Board, on East Jefferson Avenue near Conner Street, attacked a crowd that had gathered at the site. Three people were killed, including Sheriff C.P. Collins.