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Maryland Historical Society
Library of Maryland History
201 W. Monument Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 410-685-3750
Fax: 410-385-2105
E-mail: library @mdhs.org
Buy the Book
Maryland
History In Prints: 1752-1900
by Laura Rice |
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![[image]](http://www.mdhs.org/Library/Images/RiceOnline/Access/Imagea015.jpg) |
The Conspiracy Against Baltimore, or The War Dance
at Montgomery Court House
[1812]
Engraving |
On June 18, 1812, America was at war again with Great Britain, protesting
commercial and travel restrictions imposed on U.S. vessels by Britain's
navy. The war was a hotly debated issue between the Democratic Republicans
and the Federalist Republicans. The Federalists, led by Alexander
Hamilton, were generally against war with Britain. In Baltimore,
this debate led to violence when Alexander Contee Hanson, owner and publisher
of the Federal Republican newspaper, printed a series of articles
critical of "Mr. Madison's war." On the night of July 27, 1812, Hanson
and a few of his supporters were savagely beaten and left for dead by a
large, anti-Federalist mob, an incident that earned Baltimore a reputation
as a "mobtown." The violent reaction shocked the country and resurrected
fears that a democratic system of government was inherently unstable.
Hanson is pictured sporting devilish horns as he leans over his friend
and legal advisor, Robert Goodloe Harper, seated with his harp in center.
Captain Richard J. Crabb appears to the right with a crab ornamenting his
chapeau
de bras; Charles J. Kilgour wears a top hat and holds a bull's head,
symbolic of the group's "bull-headed" insistence on continuing to publish
anti-war opinions. Participants in the Federalist war dance, to left,
include General "Lighthorse Harry" Lee, father of Robert E. Lee, wearing
a chapeau de bras.
In spite of the savagery of the attack, General James M. Lingan was
the only immediate casualty. Hanson died several years later of complications
caused by the injuries he sustained that night.
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![[image]](http://www.mdhs.org/Library/Images/RiceOnline/Full/Imagef015.jpg)
