The Doctors' Riot occurred in April 1788 in New York City when the illegal procurement of corpses for dissection by physicians and medical students incited outrage among the poorer population. By the end of the American Revolution, roughly one-fifth of New York City's population was black, most of whom were slaves buried outside the city limits. Their graves, located near Columbia College, were often raided for bodies due to the difficulty of obtaining cadavers legally.In the winter of 1788, the exhumation of corpses by medical students increased significantly, leading to a petition from freedmen to the Common Council, which was ignored. The situation escalated in April when a medical student, John Hicks, provoked local children by waving a dissected arm and falsely claiming it belonged to a recently deceased woman. This led to the woman's husband discovering her empty grave and gathering a mob to storm New York Hospital.The mob found mutilated bodies inside, inciting further anger. They dragged physicians, including Richard Bayley's assistant Wright Post, into the streets. Mayor James Duane intervened, ordering the physicians to the jailhouse for protection. A crowd of 2,000 gathered, resulting in widespread rioting. Governor Clinton eventually called in the militia to restore order, but not before at least six people died.Public opinion of physicians plummeted, and despite some students being tried, Hicks was not among them. The riot led to a 1789 statute codifying the proper treatment of corpses and imposing harsh penalties for violations.
