Flour Riots of 1837

         Hey my name is Jorge Cosme and I'm from ENG 195 at La Guardia Community College. I'm writing about the theme of the class, violence and art. These past two weeks we have talked about an article called the Flour Riot of 1837. This article talks about the increase of cost on supplies, in this case flour and how it affected the poor lower class. This author uses the word "starvation" in a powerful way. He empathizes that the poor aren't actually starving but just suffering.  We get to read by the tone he uses to describe the poor who riot, how he is not sympathetic towards them. He is aware of what is going on with the increase of flour, but he still justifies it by saying they are just suffering NOT starving.  He believes the poor don't have the right to riot until they are starving, until they are on the verge of death. His fine line between starvation and suffering on the poor is a moral issue that they are stuck with.

The poor are left to suffer and can't justify there riots, until they are actually "starving" which by the author, seems to be is when a person boney and weak.