A City on Edge
On April 16, 1788, New York City erupted into one of the first major riots in post-Revolutionary America, leaving as many as 20 dead. Known as the “Doctors’ Riot,” it was fueled by growing public outrage over grave-robbing for medical dissection.
Reports had circulated for months that students at New York Hospital, lacking legal sources of cadavers, were taking bodies from local burial grounds—particularly the potter’s field and the Negroes Burial Ground. While complaints from the city’s Black residents were ignored, tensions escalated after rumors spread that a white woman’s grave at Trinity Churchyard had been disturbed.
From Rumor to Mob
Accounts differ on how the riot began, but most agree it started when boys outside New York Hospital spotted something shocking—possibly a severed arm in the anatomy room. One version claimed a surgeon taunted a boy, saying the limb belonged to his recently deceased mother.
Outraged, the boy’s father and fellow workmen stormed the hospital, discovering fresh bodies, one boiling in a kettle and others in dissection. Medical students fled, and anatomical specimens were burned in the street. Mayor James Duane intervened, escorting the doctors to jail for their safety.
The Assault on the Jail
The next day, mobs scoured the city for doctors, searching Columbia College, physicians’ homes, and other sites. Finding no bodies, they converged on the jail, demanding the students be released to them. Governor George Clinton and prominent citizens, including Alexander Hamilton, tried to calm the crowd, but were ignored.
When rioters attacked with rocks, bricks, and timber, injuring John Jay and Baron von Steuben, the militia opened fire. By the end, up to 20 people were dead, including both rioters and militia members.
Aftermath and Lasting Impact
In the riot’s wake, cemeteries were patrolled by armed “Dead Guard Men,” and prominent physicians published notices denying involvement in grave-robbing “in the city.” A grand jury investigated but no convictions were recorded.
The following year, New York passed a law outlawing grave-robbing and allowing dissection of executed criminals, but the limited supply of cadavers meant illicit body-snatching continued in secret. The incident spurred early medical licensing requirements, mandating formal training or apprenticeship and rigorous exams. Even so, public suspicion of physicians lingered in New York for years.
In April 1788, New York erupted into violence when public anger over grave-robbing for medical dissection exploded into the Doctors’ Riot, leaving as many as 20 dead and forever changing how the city viewed its physicians…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/TuWeKUq4ad
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) August 13, 2025