In March 1863, news of a controversial draft law hit the streets of Detroit as William Faulkner, a local saloonkeeper, stood trial for raping two young girls. Faulkner’s sensational trial and the even more sensationalized coverage in local newspapers inflamed festering racial animosities that resulted in an event dubbed “the bloodiest day that ever dawned upon Detroit.” The Detroit riot of 1863 permanently altered the city’s social landscape and later influenced the formation of Detroit’s first metropolitan police department.
This history of the Detroit riot of 1863 pieces together a scene-by-scene narrative that illustrates the unique and complex social dynamic of Detroit during the Civil War. Using eyewitness testimony from rare and seldom seen court records and trial transcripts, the author identifies the ringleaders, examines factors leading to the riot, and analyzes Faulkner’s trial in the context of political events.

Writer and researcher Tobin T. Buhk lives in Jenison, Michigan.

Tobin T. Buhk
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages:
Bibliographic Info:
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9216-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5201-6
Imprint: Exposit