Ursuline Convent Riots

The Ursuline Convent Riot occurred on August 11, 1834 in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The event was the result of extreme anti-catholic sentiments spurred by protestant propaganda in Boston in the 1830s.

The Ursuline Convent in nearby Charlestown was rumored to be a hotbed for sexual misdeeds and a source of corruption for young women in the area. These rumors were exacerbated by the arrival of Rebecca Reed, who claimed to be an escaped nun from the nearby Convent. A Convict from the Convent if you will. Reed described the convent as a prison, where young girls were forced into Catholicism w/ grotesque punishment for those who refused. Her story spread after a book of her telling of the events was released called Six Months in a Convent. This book, along with the growing number of propaganda magazines including the Christian Watchman and Boston Recorder, stoked the fires of anti-catholicism in Boston and the surrounding area.

On August 11, 1834, at around 9:00, a mob of angry protestants moved on the convent. They stormed the convent and after forcing out all of the inhabitants, burned it to the ground.

The true significance of this event lies in the hate which it expressed. All rioters who were captured and tried were acquitted. Furthermore, requests for reimbursment by the state government by the members of the Ursuline Convent were denied. The extreme nature of the event, and the fact that no one was punished for the crime express the deep and universal disgust for Catholics of the time.