List of invocations of the Insurrection Act

This is a list of invocations of the Insurrection Act of 1807.

The act has been invoked by fifteen Presidents and illegally by one Army general, in response to 30 incidents. Its latest invocation was during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

List Date invokedInvokerCauseResultsApril 19, 1808Thomas JeffersonViolations of the Embargo Act of 1807 around Lake Champlain.Violations continued, act repealed in 1809.United States Non-Intercourse Act - March 1, 1809 Rockcastle Karst ConservancyFebruary 10, 1831Andrew JacksonDispute around Arkansas-Mexico border.Resolved before troops sent.August 24, 1831Nat Turner's Rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia.Schwarz, Frederic D. "1831 Nat Turner's Rebellion," American Heritage, August/September 2006. "Rebellion suppressed.January 28, 1834Riot over labor dispute in Maryland.Resolved before troops sent.April 15, 1861Abraham LincolnSecession of southern states, American Civil War.Civil war ends after four years. Beginning of Reconstruction era.October 17, 1871Ulysses S. GrantInsurgency across former Confederacy.Insurgency suppressed.May 22, 1873Violence in Louisiana after contested election.Resolved before troops sent.May 15, 1874Brooks–Baxter War in Arkansas.Driggs Jr., Orval Truman (1947). The issues of the Clayton regime (1868–1871). (Thesis: M.A.).Resolved before troops sent.September 15, 1874Battle of Liberty Place in Louisiana.The White Leaguers Make a Demonstration in New Orleans. Cincinnati Daily Gazette (Cincinnati, Ohio), Tuesday, September 15, 1874, Page: 1New Orleans and state government liberated, insurgency continued in other areas until 1877.December 21, 1874Insurrection and massacre in Vicksburg.Insurrection suppressed.October 17, 1876Paramilitaries in South Carolina.Paramilitaries dispersed, troops stay until 1877.July 18, 1877Rutherford B. HayesRailroad strike in multiple states.Strike suppressed. Eventual reform.October 7, 1878War between rival business/gang factions in Lincoln County, New Mexico.Most fighting stops.May 3, 1882Chester A. ArthurGang violence in the Arizona Territory.Gangs suppressed.November 7, 1885Grover ClevelandTacoma riot of 1885 against Chinese citizens in the Washington Territory.Riot suppressed. February 9, 1886Seattle riot of 1886 against Chinese citizens in the Washington Territory.Riot suppressed.July 8, 1894Pullman Strike in multiple states.Strike suppressed. Eventual reform.April 28, 1914Woodrow WilsonStrike and uprising in Colorado.Strike and uprising suppressed. Eventual reform.August 30, 1921Warren G. HardingStrike and uprising in West Virginia.Strike and uprising suppressed. Eventual reform.July 28, 1932Douglas MacArthurArmy general illegally invokes act against WWI veterans marching for military bonuses in Washington, D.C."'Take Job in the Forest or Go Home' Is Alternative Given to Bonus Boys", Middlesboro (Kentucky) Daily News, May 17, 1933, p. 1; "Bonus Marchers Weaken; Accept Jobs in Ax Corps", Milwaukee Journal, May 20, 1933, p. 1Protest suppressed.June 21, 1943Franklin D. RooseveltRace riot in Detroit.Riot suppressed.September 23, 1957Dwight D. EisenhowerArkansas National Guard forbids black students from a school in Little Rock.Arkansas National Guard federalized and ordered to stand down. Federal troops escort black students to school.September 30, 1962John F. KennedySiege and riot of University of Mississippi due to racial integration.Riot suppressed.June 11, 1963Governor of Alabama forbids black students from a school in Tuscaloosa.Alabama National Guard federalized and ordered to stand down. Federal troops escort black students to school.September 10, 1963Alabama National Guard forbids black students from all-white schools.Alabama National Guard federalized and ordered to stand down.March 20, 1965Lyndon B. JohnsonAlabamian policemen suppress first Selma to Montgomery marches.Dallek, Robert (1998). Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961-1973. Oxford University Press, p. 218.Federalization of Alabama National Guard before the third march.July 24, 1967Protests and riots in Detroit.Riots suppressed.April 5, 1968Riots and civil unrest in multiple states after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr..Riots suppressed.November 24, 1987Ronald ReaganPrison riot in Atlanta over announced deportations of Cuban detainees.Riot suppressed.September 20, 1989 George H. W. BushLooting in the United States Virgin Islands after Hurricane Hugo.Order restored.May 1, 1992Riots in Los Angeles after the acquittal of policemen who beat Rodney King.Riot suppressed.

See also Section 119 of the Constitution of Australia#Invocations

References