Hardscrabble was a predominantly African American neighborhood located in northwestern Providence during the early nineteenth century. In 1824, the area was the site of a race riot in which whites targeted and destroyed the homes of several black residences. The riot was a violent manifestaton of the racial tensions between Providence's underclasses. Today, the State Capital overlooks the former site of Hardscrabble.
A distance from the center of town, the cheap rent attracted respectable working-class blacks as well as unsavory characters of all races. Respectable but poor residents lived next-door to houses of vice. Tensions grew between the residents of Hardscrabble and other residents of Providence.
On October 18, 1824, a white mob attacked black residences in Hardscrabble. The apparent trigger was the refusal of some blacks to get off the sidewalk when approached by a group of whites in Hardscrabble earlier in the day. Although the mob claimed to be ridding the town of places of ill-repute, they destroyed buildings indiscriminately, regardless of whether it was the home of an innocent black resident or a site of criminal activity. The mob tore down approximately twenty houses. As detailed in the Hardscrabble Calendar, four people were brought to trial but only one found guilty.
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A distance from the center of town, the cheap rent attracted respectable working-class blacks as well as unsavory characters of all races. Respectable but poor residents lived next-door to houses of vice. Tensions grew between the residents of Hardscrabble and other residents of Providence.
On October 18, 1824, a white mob attacked black residences in Hardscrabble. The apparent trigger was the refusal of some blacks to get off the sidewalk when approached by a group of whites in Hardscrabble earlier in the day. Although the mob claimed to be ridding the town of places of ill-repute, they destroyed buildings indiscriminately, regardless of whether it was the home of an innocent black resident or a site of criminal activity. The mob tore down approximately twenty houses. As detailed in the Hardscrabble Calendar, four people were brought to trial but only one found guilty.
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