Thomas Dorr and the Time When Rhode Island Had 2 Governors

under a new state constitution. The problem with that, though, was that Rhode Island already had a governor that was a man named Samuel Ward King, and the state legislature refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new constitution or of Governor Door. Tom Dor was born on November five, the scion of an incredibly wealthy family in Providence, Rhode Island. His father, Sullivan Door, amassed the family's fortune through trade between the Jane dynasty and the United States during what's

known as the Old China Trade. Door's mother, Video Allen, was the sister of the prominent textile manufacturer Zachariah Allen. Tom's father and uncle co owned the Burnon Mill Village, which was used for textile production in Woonsocket, about fifteen miles outside of Providence. Door was very well educated. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and graduated from Harvard University in the class of eighteen three. He studied law for two years in New York City under Chancellor

James Kent. You might not recognize that name, but he was the author of one of the leading American legal texts of the first half of the nineteenth century. Door was admitted to the Rhode Island Bar in eighteen twenty seven and opened a law practice on College Street in Providence. Over the next six years, give or take, though, he mostly toured the country, and he occasionally practiced maritime and commercial law in New York City before returning to Providence

in eighteen thirty three. He was often referred to as a quote lackluster lawyer. In the eighteen thirties, Dora threw himself behind a number of reform causes, including public education, freedom of speech, banking, anti slavery, suffrage, extension, imprisonment for debt, and prison reform. He began his career as part of the Whig Party, but he didn't remain a Whig. Disagreements over banking reform and suffrage extension led to his expulsion from that party. He briefly had the Equal Rights wing

of the state's Democratic Party, but just briefly. He began his political career as a representative in the Rhode Island General Assembly in eighteen thirty four, at the age of twenty nine. In his role, he drafted and secured a statute providing for regulation of state chartered banks, and he also set up a permanent school fund and laid the

groundwork for the state's first public high school. The trouble began with an argument over Rhode Islands constitution because you see Rhode Island and actually have one before and into the eighteen forties, the government document of Rhode Island was its original colonial charter that dated all the way back to sixteen sixty three. In fact, for nearly two hundred years, from sixteen sixty three to eighteen forty three, the citizens of Rhode Island were governed under a royal charter granted

by King Charles the Second of England. They were a political anomaly in this regard because most states drafted and adopted new state constitutions during and after the American Revolutionary War, but not Rhode Island. So let's get a little bit more specific on this. Under the colonial Charter, it was outlined that only men who owned real estate valued at one hundred and thirty four dollars or of more than that could vote, so specifically quote, gentlemen of property and

standing had voting rights in the state. In two the state legislature restricted that right to vote to white men only, disenfranchising freemales of color across the state, all of whom had just previously been as eligible as the white male citizens to vote. At the time of the American Revolution, eight percent of the adult white male citizens of Rhode

Island were enfranchised. Voting rights hadn't really been a big issue when the state was sparsely populated farmland, but by the eighteen forties things were becoming increasingly industrial and crowded. By the early nineteenth century, immigration had increased the state's population, and many of the newcomers rented their homes. Rhode Island had failed to reconcile that increase in immigration with political democracy.

Dout in spite of the substantial changes to this day its population, the General Assembly refused to reabortion its seats. They had been reluctant to expand suffrage requirements, mainly in light of that growing immigrant population. Adult white males who rented rather than owned property, according to the Charter, had

no voting rights. Black people, indigenous people's, really, any person of color, and all women regardless of race were not allowed to vote, whether they happened to be qualified by the rules applied to white male voters or not. By eighteen forty, the population of Rhode Island had grown to a little more than a hundred thousand people. Many people

lived in urban areas, specifically in Providence. With these changes, the proportion of adult white men who met state qualifications to vote decreased from eight percent to forty In eighteen forty one, Rhode Island became the only state that did not allow all adult white males to vote, regardless of property. Staff is doors attempt to enfranchise all male citizens of Rhode Island and that included men of color, turned into what we now know as the Door Rebellion. We're going

to take a quick break forward from our sponsor. But when we're back. We'll set the scene for how Rhode Island found itself in a small civil war. Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about how Rhode Island found itself with two elected governors. The Door Rebellion, or as it's also known, Rhode Island's own very small civil war, had

what you might expect from a tiny civil war. There were cannons, impassioned speeches, they were rival governments, and at one point those who supported the new party took up arms against the colonial charter defined government. The very short lived rebellion to overthrow Governor King and the General Assembly

was ultimately unsuccessful. Here's what went down. So a new reform party, the People's Party, called a Constitutional Convention, adopted a new constitution, held elections, and then on May third, eighteen forty two, installed Thomas dor As the new governor of the State of Rhode Island to da the end. Yeah,

not so fast, man, not so fast at all. So the formation of the Rhode Island Suffrage Association in the spring of eighteen forty led to growing interests in this suffrage movement, and around the same time, reformers in the state sought to forcibly seek to free Rhode Island from the antiquated Royal Charter of sixteen sixty three. Spearheaded by Tom Door, Door Rights, as those who supported him were nicknamed, formed a new political party, a new state constitution, and

new leadership. The People's Party, as they became known, wanted to redistribute wealth in the state, which was and had long been run by a small, wealthy group of white men. The People's Constitution called for an independent judicial system and universal manhood suffrage. In October of eighteen forty one, supporters held what they called the People's Convention. They drafted the People's Constitution that granted voting rights to all white males aged twenty one or older who had lived in Rhode

Island for at least one year. Reformist and abolitionist in sympathies, Door supported the idea of manhood suffrage in the jackson Ian definition, which argued for universal manhood suffrage, or voting rights, for all white male adults. Where he differed, though, was that he argued for voting rights for black men as well. Door eventually gave up that fight for black suffrage in order to win the support of immigrants, many of whom

were Irish and white, which his party would accept. His party's constitution, though ended up demanding voting rights for only quote all white adult male citizens. The change was made over doors strong objections. They adopted their constitution, and they put it to a vote, and that document was overwhelmingly approved in a referendum that was held in defiance of

the standing state government. Fourteen thousand people voted for it and fewer than one hundred against it, even the majority of those who were already entitled to vote back the move. All of this, though, all of this was unofficial and illegal. The old charter government hadn't given any kind of consent for a referendum and refused to recognize its legitimacy, so you can begin to see the problem here. By springtime. On April eighteen, eighteen forty two, Door was elected to

the office of governor under the People's Constitution. I know you're like, why Yes. In April of eighteen forty two, two elections were held, one with the intention of electing a government under the People's Constitution and the other to elect a government under the legal Charter. Samuel Ward King was elected governor by charter rights. Those who believed the

state should keep its colonial charter. The People's Party installed Thomas Wilson Doris, their governor on May third, eighteen forty two, and Rhode Island suddenly found itself with two elected governors. In early May, both governors, as well as state legislatures and other officials were all sworn into office, and in that moment there were two complete governments in the state.

Printed in the Charleston Mercury quote, in the small state of Rhode Island, with the population of about a hundred thousand, there are at this moment two governors, two senates, two Houses of Representatives, and other things in proportion, a clear exemplification of Jefferson's maxim that the world is governed too much. Reformers remarked former President John Quincy Adams have taken steps to achieve a revolution in government because the state still

adheres to the Royal Charter. In April of eighteen forty two, just before the elections, the state's General Assembly passed the Algerian Law, which basically rendered elections held by the People's Party as completely illegal and set punishments for anyone meeting or running for office under the People's Constitution. Many of Yours. Supporters were fined, some were imprisoned, some were tried. The Charter government passed a statute declaring results of any People's

Party election to also be illegal. It also made it an act of treason against the State of Rhode Island and punishable by life imprisonment for anyone to assume state office under the People's Constitution. It became pretty clear that neither side would compromise, and the situation escalated. Door's election by the People's Party was outright rejected by the pre existing state government. Both Door and King claimed to be the legitimate governor of the state, and both appealed to

President John Tyler for intervention. No help came, not really. The President was reluctant to get involved in this situation, but he did send troop reinforcements to Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island, just as a precautionary measure. Door himself had zero military experience, but he decided to organize between two hundred to three hundred Door Rights and began his campaign by stealing two light cannons from a small local militia post.

On May set, two doors Men surrounded the state arsenal on Cranston Street in Providence, with the intention of taking the arms stored within. His father elevant Or and uncle Crawford Allen are said to have been among those defending the armory That's right against Tom Dora's family aligned themselves with Samuel Ward King and the Charter Rights. His parents pled for him not to run for governor under the

People's Constitution. His father wrote him quote, it grieves us to the heart to know that a son of ours arrived at so mature an age, and so well versed in the laws of his country, should be a participant in acts calculated to carry this date into destruction. We pray you to pause before you pass the rubicon. They couldn't change his mind, and ultimately he became estranged from his family when its defenders would not surrender the armory

to him. Door ordered his cannons fired, and they were fired, but no balls were fired, not on the first tribe, not on the second try. The theory here is that perhaps the equipment was just too old. This was equipment from the Revolutionary War, so roughly seventy years earlier. But that was the end of the armory raid. Though there was nothing left to do it that moment, but retreat. So the plan wasn't super great. Well, he didn't have

any military experience. Governor King declared martial law and issued a warrant for doors arrest. Door fled to Connecticut, where the Democratic governor refused to extradite him to Rhode Island. Nearly two hundred of Doors followers were captured and brought to Providence, where they were jailed, some for several weeks before being released. This entire thing resulted in one death, that of an innocent civilian who was shot by mistake.

The New York Herald humorously reported on the event, though printing quote killed, zero wounded, zero missing, four one scared, nine hundred and sixty horribly frightened, seven eighty nine painted on the battleground, seventy three women in hysterics, temperance pledge broke before the battle. Governors k missing one. So we're going to take a break here for a word from our sponsor, and when we return, we will talk about when Door returned from exile and when he turned himself in.

Welcome back to Criminally a Door became the first person convicted of treason against one of the states. So let's talk about that trial. After a month in exile, Door returned to Rhode Island in order to reconvene the People's Party on Independence Day at Chapatcha, a small village near the town of Gloucester. William Gibbs McNeil, a West Point graduate who commanded the Charter militia of roughly three thousand militiamen,

was dispatched to protect the state's interests. Or hadn't realized, though, how the militia of the People's Party had just disintegrated after the failed attack on the Arsenal, and only a few hundred of his own supporters and militia met him there. In total, this rebellion lasted just about two months you'll see six weeks sometimes, and aside from the debacle at the Armory, not a single battle was fought. Actually, it's reported that the Charter forces were somewhat disappointed they couldn't

find their enemy to fight. Regardless of that, though they

still stormed Doors armies abandoned encampment at Chapachet. A few weeks later, Door wrote a lengthy letter to his friend William Simons, editor of the Providence newspaper The Republican Harold, and that letter said, quote, it is due to myself to say that, although I am not insensible to the opinions of men, I feel conscious that I have done the duty which was assigned to me by the people of Rhode Island, and in this a source of satisfaction

of what no hostility or malice can deprive me. My spirit is not broken by the burden of defeat and obloquy that has been cast upon me. Through all of this, the Charter government kind of got the message. A document was drafted in an attempt to answer the People's Constitution. After a few drafts, in November that year, it was debated upon by the state legislature and passed by the Electorate. After suffrage. Language was modified to remove the property requirement

for natural born citizens. Though it wasn't nearly as reformist as the People's Constitution, the new State Constitution did greatly increase male suffrage in Rhode Island, and it finally put an end to the racial requirement. It did, however, retain the property qualification for immigrants, which left a good number of doors Irish supporters just as disenfranchised as they had

been before the rebellion. The new constitution went into effect in eighteen forty three, but the landholding requirement wasn't entirely dropped from the document until eighteen eighty eight. Facing arrest by the state, Door fled with a bounty of five thousand dollars on his head under the protection of Governor Henry Hubbard. Door remained in exile in New Hampshire from July of eighteen forty two until October of eighteen forty three. On August eighteen forty two, he was indicted in absentia

in state court for treason against Rhode Island. He returned to Rhode Island on October twenty one, eighteen forty three, and turned himself into authorities in Providence. Door was charged with treason. He remained in the Providence Rhode Island City Jail for five months before he was reigned on March fifth, eighteen forty four. He pleaded not guilty and his trial was set for April. With is bail denied. Door remained

in jail until his trial. The trial was held before the judges of Rhode Island Supreme Court at the courthouse in Newport, which is actually about forty miles from Providence. Newport was known for its pro Charter government sympathies, making it a place where the prosecution believed they would have an easy time finding a jury that was sure to convict him. Joseph W. Blake and Alfred Bosworth were the

chief prosecutors. Door, a lawyer, represented himself and was assisted by three attorneys, Samuel y Atwell, George Turner, and Walter S. Burge's Door never denied his actions. His argument primarily relied on two lines of defense. His first argument was that because the United States Constitution defined treason as a crime committed against the country of the United States and not against any individual state, he could not be charged with

treason against Rhode Island. His second argument was about his legitimacy as governor, specifically that during the events of eighteen forty two, he was the legitimate governor of the state and therefore the Algerine law was in valid. The court rejected both of those arguments. According to the judges job De Free, Levy, Hail william Our Staples, and George A. Braton quote, wherever allegiance is due, their treason may be committed allegiance is due to a state, and therefore treason

may be committed against the state of this Union. Additionally, the judges argued that only the state legislature that had been elected in eighteen forty three, and not any judge or jury or Thomas Door, had the power to decide which government or constitution was legitimate in eighteen forty two. The jury retired on May six and returned a verdict of guilty just three hours later. Door became the first

person convicted of treason against one of the states. On June, he was sentenced for his actions against the state of Rhode Island. He was imprisoned quote for the term of his natural life, and they are kept it hardly were in separate confinement. Motions were made for a new trial, but they were denied by the court. Door was taken to the state prison and providence two days after his sentence, saying where the sentence of solitary confinement was strictly enforced.

His request for permission to take daily walks inside the prison and to have books available were both refused. He was not allowed to speak or write to anyone outside of the prison, with the exception of his lawyer. His parents were not allowed to see or talk to him the prison was damp and poorly ventilated, and doors health deteriorated while he was incarcerated. Yet he hadn't lost his fight.

When the state legislature offered him amnesty on the provision he swore allegiance to the eighteen forty three state constitution, he refused. Door spent his time working on his appeal to the United States Supreme Court, but his situation changed. Before his case reached the High court stocket. Door did

not serve out his life sentence. He was still popular among many Rhode Islanders, and many continued to champion his cause, calling him the People's Governor and making his freedom a cause celebre His imprisonment became a key issue in the gubernatorial election of eighteen forty five. After twenty months under Governor Charles Jackson's administration, Door was unconditionally released from prison. It's important to note, though, that this was not a pardon.

Doors civil and political rights were not restored until his uncle, Philip Allen became the state's governor in eighteen fifty one. In eighteen fifty four, a decade after his release, doors treason conviction was reversed. Shortly before his death on December year. He never wavered. He maintained that his new government was legal, and he always maintained he had legitimately won that election of eighteen forty two. The Door Rebellion was the climax of years and years of debate in the state over

the question of suffrage rights. Historians have described the rebellion in different ways. The Door rights have been called irresponsible idealists who ignored the state's need for stability and order, but they've also been hailed as being part of an

early working class attempt to overthrow an elitist government. Some historians call it a legitimate expression of republicanism in the United States, although politics actually changed very little for Rhode Islanders after eighteen forty two, because at the end of the day, that same elite group of men held the power the remaining state population a k. The women, meanwhile, would have to wait until nineteen twenty for full voting rights with the addition of the nineteenth Amendment to the

United States Constitution. Tom Door is buried in Providence, Rhode Island. On his headstone at Swan Cemetery is a small plaque bearing the state seal with People's Constitution inscribed below above it names the grave to be that of Governor Thomas Wilson. Door None is our story of the door riots. Would you like to have a little perfecty pour with me

after this? Yes? I was trying to think about something interesting that would feature a sense of two things competing and canceling each other out in the way that there were two governors going on here. And so this drink has two flavors that tend to be strong, but they do balance in a very weird way. When you drink it, you will remember that a while back I did a cocktail where we tried to reclaim the Negroni and make

it something delicious and palatable to me. Absolutely remember that, Yes, And in the int um I have continued to play with Kompari a little bit and see how I can use it in ways that I like. Because I am not the biggest fan of a biting, bitter thing, so I thought, is there a way I can balance out Kompari and make it not feel quite so harsh but still have that unique flavor where you get a little bit of the bitter flavor, but it doesn't feel as bity in your mouth. So this is a drink that

I'm calling double Trouble just to represent two governors. It actually has three ingredients, is super easy. So they're two flavors that tend to be strong, but they balance each other out because there's also a modifier in there. So you start with one ounce of kompari three quarters of an ounce of vodka, just a basic, clean vodka, you don't want any flavor in there, and then you'll shake that and pour it over ice, and you top it with ginger ale or ginger beer, depending on how you

want it to flavor. Add bitters if you want. I added a floral bitter and it was nice, but you don't need it. But what's interesting is that the ginger neutralizes the kampari in a way that I didn't anticipate. It's like the ginger in the vodka together. Do you still taste that bitter orange flavor, but it doesn't create that weird pucker that kampari can take can create in

your mouth where you're like um. And it actually becomes really quite a sipable drink that has the flavor profiles without any of the unpleasant parts of them, which was very fascinating to me. It doesn't work with just kampari and ginger. The vodka has to be in there, otherwise it doesn't quite balance right. It's like the vodka is like its own bite neutralizes the bite of kampari, and then the ginger does a whole other thing to it. This is one that is a little bit trickier to

do a mock tail of. I would suggest either using like the juice of a blood orange in lieu of kampari that has that sort of little bit more bitter and a little bit more like growl to it, and just squeezing that and you want to string it. If you get pulping your thing or not, it's up to you whatever you like. There's no cocktail jail. I haven't said that in a long time, but there isn't. The whole point is that this is a guide and from

here you make things the way you like them. So I would do, yeah, like an ounce of blood orange juice against a few ounces of ginger aller ginger beer, and then I would if you are not averse to using bidders at all. We always talked about on the show. Some people like them and some don't. Anger Stir. It does make a bitter and orange bidders and I would throw a dash or two of that in there, and

you're gonna get real close. At that point. I will tell you I didn't have a blood orange on hand when I was doing this, so I haven't tested this. So hopefully it works. It sounds like it's going to be a great substitute, I think. So there's a reason I don't have blood orange on hand, and it's because I don't like anything bitey, because I want a gentle hug in every sip. I'm the opposite here, and I

love all of these things. But what's funny to me is that I don't really know that many people who are fans of the blood orange, even though you want to be like, everything that's made with it looks like something too. I love them well, and I occasionally will use them in cooking, but I don't tend to just have them on hand, and I my grocery store did not have them this morning when I ran over to try to test this, So that is why I have not tested this idea. Still I think it's I think

it's the right way to go. So that is the double trouble. And I will say, like I said, I don't tend to love campari. It's one of those things. There are lots of great cocktails made with it that people adore, and they just don't work on my palette.

This was super sippable and easy. Normally, when I'm work shopping a cocktail like this, which tends to be in the morning, which is not listen, I enjoy a day drink and I usually just have a couple of SIPs and then I'm done because I'm working and we're about to go in the studio. I don't want to be stumblino when I'm trying to chat. But but this was

one where I found myself. I was like typing a note to you, and I went, oh, my gosh, I have continued to drink this cocktail and I wasn't like intoxicated, but I was like, I'm surprised that I, without even thinking about it, continued to sip on a Kompari based cocktail. That's something right there. I'm finding ways to cozy up with Kompari. That's that's why I always say, I'm always trying to find ways to find things that I think I don't like and make them what I do like.

That's the whole point of playing with all of these things, explore you may not know what your favorite drink is because you haven't made it yet, or just enjoy taste the rainbow as they say that too. We are so grateful that you have hung out with us and listen to this story of treason and fascinating political machinations, and we will be right back here again next week with more of the season of treason and another cocktail, so

we hope to see you here. Criminalia is a production of Shonda land Audio in partnership with I heart Radio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, please visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.