Loco-Focos and the 1837 New York Flour Riot

The “Flour riot” is not as well known as more destructive New York City riots of the nineteenth century like the Astor Place riots or the draft riots, but some of the story- from concern over high prices of food to accusations of fake news, to inflammatory speeches, seem surprisingly familiar today.
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #NewYork

[@c.w.johnsonjr6374]

As Paul Harvey would say, “At times like these it is always important to remember that there have always been times like these.”

[@davefellhoelter1343]

RIP Paul! I can still hear you!

[@billysmidway7032]

…and THAT is the rest of the story. Good day!

[@Svensk7119]

Page.... two!

[@davearbogast2882]

Amen to that, however, you are dating your self just like the rest of us AARP eligible,

[@dirtcop11]

Mark Twain once said, "History doesn't repeat itself but it does rhyme." It may not exactly repeat itself but the events tend to follow the same path.

[@septembersurprise5178]

"By the Law of Periodical Repetition, everything which has happened once must happen again and again and again -- and not capriciously, but a regular periods, and each thing in its own period, not another's, and each obeying its own law. The eclipse of the sun, the occultation of Venus, the arrival and departure of the comets, the annual shower of stars -- all these things hint to us that the same Nature which orders the affairs of the earth. Let us not underrate the value of that hint." - Mark Twain

[@Nlang1969]

Truth

[@Russia-bullies]

History will repeat itself,if ignored.

[@philipvandyke5980]

How this reflects what is now happening this year , supply and demand. Rents, eggs, cars, just so many things as it was too back in 1837. It will pass and just become another footnote in American history

[@cranklabexplosion-labcentr8245]

Loco Flocos and the Flower Riot sounds like a really good indie band

[@coleheister7390]

i hope they get sponsored by Four Locos.

[@LargeBasstafarian]

"Many ignorant people, who could not understand the state of things, were ready to adopt any cause that might be suggested upon, which to exercise their exasperated feelings" We haven't changed a bit in almost 200 years.

[@rogueyun9613]

"They knew that under the cover of darkness men could be incited to do what they in broad daylight would be afraid to undertake." That's pure historical poetry to me. Love this channel so much!

[@williamromine5715]

Today, it is the cover of the internet and the use of fake names. It seems to me that commenters who use their real names are more civil in their comments.

[@rogueyun9613]

@@williamromine5715 That would be the ideal, but the internet is less than civil and certainly less than ideal. I don't mind people being as anonymous as they feel is safe for them.

[@williamromine5715]

@@rogueyun9613 I don't mind the anonymity so much. It's resorting to calling people names and questioning their intelligence just because they don't agree with them. I doubt they would do this in a meeting or a casual get to gether, but since they are anonymous, they can say anything they want. That's what bothers me about the use of anonymous names. I do understand that there are legitimate reasons for being anonymous on the internet.

[@rickparsley3598]

THG does a great job with explaining history in a simple manner and his enthusiasm makes his stories fun and engaging👍❤️

[@CrazyBear65]

If I'd had a history teacher like him, I might've stayed in school and graduated instead of dropping out and getting the GED. (Which is just a piece of paper anyway, but society attaches undue meaning to such pieces of paper.)

[@richardputz3233]

Plus x Plus = Most Excellent !!

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

For the record, I said "shoot." ;)

[@bryantq3740]

Hahaha I almost had to listen again but figured that’s what you said 😂

[@ChaoticOrcPaladin]

Lmao. "Shoot." Uh huh. Suuuuure. Same thing I tell my mom when I get caught. Love your vids!

[@steveshoemaker6347]

Let there be bread....What does let there be bread mean ?...l don't know sez me....Thanks goes to THG🎀

[@Spitnchicklets]

I heard shit😛

[@Spitnchicklets]

It’s like hearing your teacher swear 😆😆hail , sheet!!!

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

..."there is no problem we face in the present which we have not already faced in the past...". Those are such true, encouraging, and emboldening words!

[@mercster]

Just eat oats for awhile JEEZ! Thanks sir! I showed my sister one of your videos and her comment was "He is a very good writer." :-) And I concurred.

[@jillatherton4660]

🙂

[@goodun2974]

@Aqua Fyre , also salmon, considered poor-people's food.

[@goodun2974]

@Aqua Fyre , also, pork, the low-status animal that will eat anything, even shit, and turn it into edible meat. The first dietary change that people made/make when their financial status improved/improves is to switch from pork to beef.

[@Badger1210]

I'm from the government and I am here to help!

[@InglouriousBradsterd]

I love The History Guy! I wish you were my teacher in high school

[@cyankirkpatrick5194]

The masses seems to agree with you.

[@richwhitaker1506]

The "Pennies"were the social media of their day. Thanks for the reminder that we in this nation have had many periods of volatility.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

KZbinrs, more like.

[@goodun2974]

The next time THG does a "best of the _____" compilation video, I'd like to see him do "the best of the financial panics and market crashes".

[@stevedietrich8936]

Shoot, the 1837 Flour riot has nothing on the 1855 Toronto Circus riot that THG covered about two years ago. When I sent that particular video to a couple of my Toronto friends it was the first they had heard of it. I wonder if most New Yorkers have heard of this one? I doubt it.

[@anthonyC214]

As a long time resident of Long Island City, whenever Lanc mentions The Long Island Star Press, it brings back fond memories

[@-jeff-]

One small example of the results of "Yellow Journalism" that deserves to me remembered.

[@matthewgreener9423]

Nothing like hearing THG talk about the obscure NJ county you grew up in and the corresponding newspaper that you remember bringing in for your parents, the man does his research, most definitely.

[@d.m.8175]

Did he cuss a little??? Lol, I could have never imagined 😱 love you history guy!

[@grahamgreene779]

14:33 - 14:35? i had to play it again to make sure - not because i care but because it seems out of character.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Lol- no, I said “shoot.”

[@grahamgreene779]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel ha, so it would have been out of character:) thanks for clarifying!

[@samsonsoturian6013]

About the inflation of the era: This was the "widecat banking era," when most paper currency was issued by banks, not the government. Often it was only useable in the region it was issued, and when banks became insolvent the paper money became worthless. Since no one really controlled the money supply, no one could stop inflation or deflation.

[@poetryflynn3712]

Many people still believe that this is the correct form of economy. Honestly, they're nearly identical, it really depends on if you trust the government or free market.

[@jonathanperry8331]

During the Great depression in Germany people were literally taking wheel barrels of money just to buy a loaf of bread. This is what Hitler took advantage of to create a fascist country. Did you know that in the thirties Hitler was the Time magazine person of the year?

[@donnajohnson3334]

Wildcat banking ?

[@samsonsoturian6013]

@@poetryflynn3712 Dude, you seen the mess connected to crypto banks?

[@samsonsoturian6013]

@@donnajohnson3334 Until the 20th century you didn't need a license or insurance to run a bank. That's why in the old west when bank robbers came, they were literally robbing entire towns. Sometimes the bankers were a band of bros who took a lot of leverage and/or didn't know what they were doing. Charles Ponzi was one such wildcat banker when he lived in Canada.

[@raywrae]

history doesn't repeat itself but it sure does rhyme

[@dirtcop11]

Mark Twain said that.

[@raywrae]

@@dirtcop11 that is true but perhaps he was just repeating.... I mean rhyming with someone else from history.

[@michaelniederer2831]

Sometimes the last part of the last sentence tells the whole story. Well done!

[@danielbeck9191]

Thank you for this EXCELLENT program!

[@michaelgalea5148]

Another great video thank you for sharing this with us. I am amazed that history repeats itself over and over.

[@poonoi1968]

Flour riot? Instantly intrigued 😳

[@goodun2974]

THG, have you ever researched the Nova Scotia mouse plague (infestation) of 1815?

[@garylefevers]

Interesting.

[@lesterbrandt3203]

There was one in New Zealand, too. Good subjects

[@InglouriousBradsterd]

14:33 I don't believe i've heard you curse before, THG! Very funny!

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Actually, I said “shoot.” There is occasional profanity on the show, but usually as a historical quotation. I do admit to some profanity off-camera…

[@InglouriousBradsterd]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel omg, THG replied to me. You made my day!

[@TVGUY333]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Actually one can say anything as long as what you say was said by someone else and you're just repeating it. Quite like an historical quotation. 🙂Great piece by the way.

[@Eric_Hutton.1980]

@The History Guy Will you cover the Zoot Suit Riots? If you haven't already covered them.

[@johnopalko5223]

Immortalized decades later in the song by the Cherry Poppin' Daddies.

[@jeffking4176]

Always an excellent video. I’ve been subscribed for years, but by the time I see the post, there are way too many comments. Great job, love these little history nuggets. 📻🙂

[@BasicDrumming]

I appreciate you, thank you for making content.

[@somethingelse4878]

Flour power you might say

[@TOSStarTrek]

Great job.

[@stuartriefe1740]

Good morning classmates!

[@shawnr771]

Thank you for the lesson.

[@markgiltner7358]

Geeze this sounds familiar , a repeat of history, who'd have thunk it

[@donkeyslayer9879]

Not you, apparently.

[@LongTrout]

What up history guy. Can't watch it now, I will come back later!

[@ChIGuY-town22_]

Great content! Thanks for your hard work.

[@dawnt6791]

Man, people really never change. These folks were rioting, apparently, over the scarcity of flour, and yet, they destroyed barrels of it in their actions. Gotta love the irony.

[@terrynagle7410]

Will we ever learn from our history? This sounds alot like what's going on now

[@jeffbangkok]

Good morning

[@russwoodward8251]

Thanks again. Just great.

[@HM2SGT]

*Penny papers: The Facebook, Twitter and Tik-Tok of their day*

[@Froggievilleus]

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[@657449]

A year or so ago I was at the library and the first isle of books you see as you enter are the new ones. There was a book on the 1903(?) Kosher meat riot by women in Manhattan. It is easy to blame the merchants for price gouging but you have to know what the replacement price is for items.

[@lancerevell5979]

Throwing barrels of flour into the streets.... Reminds one of a certain event in Boston Harbor many decades earlier. 🤨

[@tomobedlam297]

Give us this day our daily bread..

[@samuelbean9928]

Nothing has changed but the date!

[@robertc.delmedico6242]

Excellent job!! If we don't learn from history......

[@vet-7174]

Good Episode !

[@Javaman92]

I've been subscribed for a long time. A few times I have wondered at how these pieces of history have been handled. The crowd here is portrayed as a bunch of excitable fools. The merchants as honest businessmen who are just doing what business demands of them. The deeper questions are left unexplored.

[@korbell1089]

I should have known. To paraphrase our hero, THG, any good story about New York City involves Tammany Hall!😂😂

[@goodun2974]

Well, they were kind of pirate-adjacent....

[@MarshOakDojoTimPruitt]

thanks

[@fbksfrank4]

All these people in city living in a place that can’t provide for them, being snotty to those who do provide for them. Will not end well for them.

[@BlackoutCreature]

I remember Loco-Focos and the Flour Riot. Saw them at the Meadowlands in like 1994. Great concert, they really rocked it. I wonder what ever happened to that girl I met there. I wish I would've kept in touch with her. She'd be in her 40's now. She was a smoker though, probably didn't age well... I'm sorry, what were we talking about again?

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

LOL

[@goodun2974]

When I saw Los Lobos play back in the 1990s they were fantastic, easily one of the 10 best shows I've ever seen. They're still around and playing, with mostly original members, but they're not as fiery as they used to be.

[@jennifercole281]

SECRET AGENT CLARKced SECRET they each brought

[@chinesesparrows]

what stands out to me is how eloquent, well-written, poetic news used to be.

[@Cemi_Mhikku]

The educated spoke that way, too, by and large. Everyone else? Well, that's no different than today; no one of importance cared about the unwashed masses then one iota more than they do now! For anyone who doesn't get it, it's a jab at how little things have ACTUALLY changed between then and now. People talked and wrote different, not better. Those uneducated in history just assume different = better.

[@jonathanperry8331]

@thg have you ever thought about doing a video on the construction of battery Park? Can you possibly adjust prices for what things would cost in modern money in the future?

[@arrjay2410]

Interesting. In Canada at that same time there were a number of "rebellions" in the British North American Colonies particularly Upper and Lower Canada (now Ontario and Quebec). William Lyon McKenzie led the "Rebellion of 1837" aimed at the domination of the "Family Compact", the clique that ran Upper Canada from Toronto. Louis Papineau did something similar in Lower Canada at Montreal against the "Chateau Clique". The rebels called for "Responsible Government". I wonder how much similar issues with the price of goods fueled that discontent. It eventually led to the the British Crown Unifying of The Colonies under a single government in 1840, and led to Canadian Confederation in 1867. Sounds like 1837 was a tumultuous year all around.

[@jerebigler7520]

Sounds remarkably similar to the chain of events surrounding the January 6th riots on the Capitol Building. Your show is always so darn interesting. Truly enjoy it. Thanks for sharing.

[@trishmcbee3092]

Always interesting things to learn. Thanks!

[@Roadglide911]

Seems like we’re heading in the same direction.

[@deannadutton4400]

14:34, did I hear a slip of the tongue? 🤣I had to rewind to that point and double check. 😉🍺🍺

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

I said "shoot."

[@deannadutton2470]

🤣

[@cyrilio]

Was confused for a second when this video started with the big letters THC. Apparently I just read it wrong.

[@justme_gb]

1837: Loco Focos 2023: Loco Wocos Why must history repeat itself?

[@charlesdudek7713]

Except the '23 version is much more sinister.

[@donaldmulrooney942]

Perhaps some of the same economic and climatic conditions also contributed to the Rebellion of 1837, just north of NY in Lower Canada.

[@TomKeown]

As a (former) Long Islander, and the son of a Bronx-born New Yorker, I just wanted to point out your mispronunciation of a certain street in lower Manhattan. And it's a common one for those not from the area. I'd wager some NYC natives might not even know the correct way to say the street name. Dey Street is not pronounced "Day". Being a Dutch-based name it is, in fact, pronounced "dye". My Dad, who worked for the then NYCTA in lower Manhattan, would respond to tourists asking where "Day Street" is by saying, "I've never heard of it."

[@lizj5740]

*New York City Transit Authority. I must say that your dad's attitude wasn't an isolated instance. I hated having to ask, e.g., the subway ticket sellers a question.

[@yoinkhaha]

I don’t wanna know what a “barrel of pork” looks like. ☹️

[@robsterTN]

You should research the Coal Creek War of 1891-92 in Tennessee.

[@johnsmartin1473]

Something's either news or not! "Fake" news, has become journalisms' jumbo shrimp, Sounds like a six year old describing missing homework. When it ain't news, well, it ain't news. hey THG love your work

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

Back in the Saddle Again Naturally

[@V.Hansen.]

Mobs are so embarrassing. It’s like they throw their brains in the gutter on the way.

[@wizdumb420]

ungathered crops in december in NJ... sus

[@davearbogast2882]

Please, add more specificity to your comments like "as a result, the next day 192 more watchmen were added" = IN ADDITION to how many? Today, there are close to 40K NYCPD.

[@privateprivate1865]

Other than the horrible AI nightmare that's coming.

[@nathaingalt8623]

THG cursed?!?!? awesome!

[@patmcbride9853]

I wonder if they had mysterious fires at food plants back then. And mass killings of livestock due to claimed illness.

[@michaelgilbert3713]

Edit requested add "buggery"

[@jennifercole281]

It's been too long since kept the double up, haven't

[@lancerevell5979]

History repeats, always. We are now seeing prices of many common food items doubling, even tripling in price over what it was three years ago. We know who to blame..... 🤨

[@zackakai5173]

Yeah, the ultra-wealthy taking advantage of the chaos to enrich themselves, and four decades of American politicians too chicken shit to pass any regulation except those that help said ultra-wealthy achieve that.

[@debbicks3793]

Sounds like today's news!

[@LittleManFlying]

"Many ignorant people," indeed... We who studied history, economics, and the (other) social sciences understand perfectly well how -- to paraphrase Twain -- history continues to rhyme and we're furious. We're no longer ignorant and we're even angrier than our forebears. We understand what and why and we're done with being subjected to kleptocracy.

[@cdjhyoung]

Is the this not the winter that followed the eruption of Krakatoa in the Pacific that threw so much ash into the sky that it destroyed the following growing season in North America?

[@nonoyorbusness]

Eruption of Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait occurred from 20 May until 21 October 1883,

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

I suspect you mean the “year without a summer” following the Mount Tambura eruption in 1816. The winter of 1835/36 was severe- including the worst freeze on record in Florida. There might have been some connection to the January 30, 1835 eruption of Mount Cosigüina in Nicaragua, which is thought to have produced a global decrease in temperature.

[@ItsAVolcano]

I'm still surprised how little criticism Jackson gets for getting rid of the national bank and then triggering an economic crisis that a national bank would have been ideally set up to help stave off.

[@goodun2974]

Jackson is the "favorite president" of a certain recent former president....

[@Wizardess]

And humans, being human, never learn. {o.o}

[@seytanuakbar3022]

Flour Riot - Coming soon to your town in 2023.

[@jec1ny]

The term "loco foco" quickly came to be used as a pejorative for any member of the Democratic Party, especially by their opponents. If you read the newspapers of the era, you will see the term loco foco used with gleeful abandon when referencing Democrats. (The New York Tribune, a Whig paper, is available online for free at the Library of Congress website.)

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

That came a bit later, as Van Buren adopted some of their banking policies.

[@pacificostudios]

Had a simple system of rationing been put into effect, such as would be acceptable during a major war, there would have been no riot.

[@merlinwizard1000]

93rd, 13 February 2023

[@hallucinati]

Was it flocos or focos?

[@jamesstumpf75]

Did you say the word shit at timestamp 14:36????? I’m not offended. I was just very surprised I don’t think I’ve ever heard you swear before. Lol😢😅

[@marcoosvald8429]

Now, Riots get Police laid off. Ugg!

[@davefellhoelter1343]

I LOVE! how History repeats! It's always NYC, always the DNC! just the dates or names change.

[@bigsarge2085]

✌️

[@tykeorama9898]

Wow, I never heard of the Flour insurrection before!

[@robertgiles9124]

I feel so safe now with Biden as Prez and not worried at all about the food prices that have been climbing lately. He said he's got it under control. Wonder if he will let me borrow his Corvette. He aint using it.

[@LittleManFlying]

"[Say what] it was downright civil"?! 14:34 🤓

[@richardbrant5728]

Did you just let a 4-letter word slip? I'm glad to see your only human.😁

[@davew1052]

cui bono? Only politicians. Nothing changes.

[@merccadoosis8847]

I looked up the inflation calculator and it only went as far back as 1913. $14 back then buys what $430+ buys today. If we went back to 1837 the inflation adjustment would be astronomical. $14 for a barrel of flour? That charge is downright criminal for that era. Obviously the suppliers were making huge profits while the poor languished in hunger. Bunch of greedy bassturds. They should have had agricultural reform so that commodities such as flour, butter, cheese, and milk could have been distributed at minimal cost (or better yet, for free). A healthier and better fed populace would yield more production. With higher productivity, there would be more commerce. Excise taxes and imposts could be imposed - these monies could be used for farm subsidization which yielded higher production and which promoted distribution. *Loco Foco* and their supporters were right to be angry over the criminal actions of the greedy capitalists. I'm not saying violence was necessarily justifiable. But action was needed. Sadly, the greedy capitalists got more police protection thereafter but the common people did not. And, as always, damned be the poor.

[@davidlobaugh4490]

💩😆🤠 downright civil

[@R_C420]

Flower Riot is the name of my imaginary euro-punk cover band. NS if I can say the name of the band we pretend to cover.

[@1stp4ward]

Seems these times are coming upon us again.