Anti-Rent War

2025-09-23T12:58:32Z

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{{Short description|Popular revolt in Upstate New York (1839–1845)}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Anti-Rent War
| width =
| partof =
| image = Anti-Rent Poster.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Poster announcing an Anti-Rent meeting in the town of [[Nassau (town), New York|Nassau, New York]]
| date = 1839–1845
| place = [[Hudson Valley]], [[Upstate New York]]
| result = [[wikisource:New York Constitution of 1846/Article 1|Abolition]] of [[Land tenure|feudal tenure]]
| status =
| combatants_header =
| combatant1 = [[Leasehold estate|Tenants]]
| combatant2 = [[Patroons]]<br>[[Government of New York (state)|State of New York]]
| commander1 = [[Smith A. Boughton]]
| commander2 = [[Stephen Van Rensselaer IV|Stephen Van Rensselaer]]<br>[[William L. Marcy]]<br>[[John Van Buren]]<br>Gov. [[William H. Seward]]
| strength1 =
| strength2 =
| strength3 =
| casualties1 =
| casualties2 =
| casualties3 =
| notes =
| campaignbox =
| units1 = {{center|25,000–60,000<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Huston |first=Reeve |date=2000 |title=The Parties and "The People": The New York Anti-Rent Wars and the Contours of Jacksonian Politics |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3124703 |journal=Journal of the Early Republic |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=241–271 |doi=10.2307/3124703 |jstor=3124703 |issn=0275-1275|url-access=subscription }}</ref> tenants}}
| units2 = ㅤ
}}{{Rent strikes}}
The '''Anti-Rent War''' (also known as the '''Helderberg War''') was a [[Leasehold estate|tenant]]s' revolt in [[upstate New York]] between 1839 and 1845. The Anti-Renters declared their independence from the [[Manorialism|manor]] system run by [[patroon]]s, resisting tax collectors and successfully demanding land reform. The conflict resulted in the passage of laws that made feudal tenures illegal and outlawed leases greater than 12 years.<ref name="Miller1967" />

==Events==
The incident began with the death of [[Stephen Van Rensselaer III]] in 1839.<ref>{{cite book |last=Knewitz |first=Simone |date=2021 |title=The Politics of Private Property |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YEUpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 |location=Lanham, MD |publisher=Lexington Books |page=42 |isbn=978-1-7936-2376-8 |via=[[Google Books]] |ref={{sfnRef|Knewitz}}}}</ref> Van Rensselaer, who was described as a "lenient and benevolent landowner" was the [[patroon]] of the region at the time.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Persico |first=Joseph E. |date=October 1974 |title=Feudal Lords On Yankee Soil |url=https://www.americanheritage.com/feudal-lords-yankee-soil#3 |magazine=[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]] |location=Rockville, MD |publisher=American Heritage Publishing Company |ref={{sfnRef|Persico}}}}</ref> As a way to develop his vast landholdings, Van Rensselaer granted tenants lifetime leases at moderate prices.{{sfn|Persico}}

During his life, when tenants were in financial constraints, he preferred to accept rent in the form of goods and services in lieu of cash, allow rents to accumulate, or accept [[partial payment]] rather than evict them.{{sfn|Persico}} However, his leases also included a "quarter-sale" provision, which required tenants who sold their leases to pay Van Rensselaer one fourth of the sale price or one additional year's rent.{{sfn|Persico}} The patroons owned much the land on which the tenants in the [[Hudson Valley]] lived, and used this [[Feudalism|feudal]] lease system to maintain control of the region.{{sfn|Persico}}

When he died, his wealth had been reduced in the economic downturn known as the [[Panic of 1837]],{{sfn|Knewitz|page=42}} so Van Rensselaer's will directed his heirs to collect outstanding rents and quarter-sale payments to apply to his estate's debts.{{sfn|Knewitz|page=42}} When the heirs attempted to collect, tenants who believed their debts would be forgiven at Van Renselaer's death could not pay the amounts demanded, could not secure a favorable payment schedule from the heirs, and could not obtain relief in the courts, so they revolted.{{sfn|Persico}}{{sfn|Knewitz|page=42}}

The first mass meeting of tenant farmers leading to the Anti-Rent War was held at the top of the [[Helderberg Escarpment|Helderberg]] mountains in [[Berne, New York]], on July 4, 1839. They issued a declaration of independence, promising: "We will take up the ball of the Revolution where our fathers stopped it and roll it to the final consummation of freedom and independence of the masses."<ref name=Miller1967>Miller (1967), pp. 66–69.</ref> Among their tactics was the rent strike, with tenants refusing to pay on their leases unless Van Rensselaer's heirs and the other patroons agreed to a negotiated settlement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wills |first=Matthew |date=2020-09-01 |title=Rural Rent Wars of the 1840s |url=https://daily.jstor.org/rent-wars-1840s/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=JSTOR Daily |language=en-US}}</ref>

In December 1839, the Anti-Renters repulsed a 500-man posse led by Albany County sheriff Michael Artcher and including [[William Marcy]] and [[John Van Buren]]. Governor [[William Seward]] threatened the rebels with 700 militiamen and obtained their surrender. However, an insurrection continued to smoulder. By May 1844, renters had formed a secret order modelled on the [[Chartism|Chartist]]s whose members wore "[[Calico]] Indian" disguises, a reference to the [[Boston Tea Party]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Christman |first1=Henry M. |year=1945 |pages=73, 74 |title=Tin Horns and Calico |isbn=3-1775-112829-9}}</ref> They resisted eviction, tax and rent collection, and law enforcement, sometimes [[tarring and feathering]] their enemies.<ref name=Miller1967 /><ref name=Summerhill2007>Thomas Summerhill, "Anti-Rent Wars (New York)", in ''Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-class History'' Vol. 1, ed. Eric Arnesen; Routledge, 2007; {{ISBN|978-0-415-96826-3}}; pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zEWsZ81Bd3YC&pg=PA118 118]–119.</ref>

The conflict gained the support of somewhere between 25,000 and 60,000 of the approximately 300,000 tenants in the patroon system.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Huston |first=Reeve |date=2000 |title=The Parties and "The People": The New York Anti-Rent Wars and the Contours of Jacksonian Politics |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3124703 |journal=Journal of the Early Republic |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=241–271 |doi=10.2307/3124703 |jstor=3124703 |issn=0275-1275|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Levine |first=David |date=2015-07-30 |title=History of America's Other Revolution: The Anti-Rent Wars |url=https://hvmag.com/life-style/hudson-valley-anti-rent-wars/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=Hudson Valley Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> In January 1845, one hundred and fifty delegates from eleven counties assembled at St. Paul's Lutheran Church<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.bernehistory.org/churchDetails.asp?ID=4 |title=Berne, NY: history |access-date=April 15, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105084345/http://www.bernehistory.org/churchDetails.asp?ID=4 |archive-date=November 5, 2011 }}</ref> in Berne to call for political action to redress their grievances.<ref>{{cite book|last=Christman|first=Henry|title=Tin Horns and Calico, a Decisive Episode in the Emergence of Democracy|date=June 1978|isbn=0-685-61130-2}}</ref>

==Results==
The Anti-Rent War led to the creation of the Antirenter Party, which had a strong influence on [[New York State]] politics from 1846 to 1851.<ref>Michael Holt, The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War, NY: Oxford U Press, 1999, 240-42, 299,591-91,647,655-56.</ref> Newly elected governor [[Silas Wright]] moved in 1845 to stamp out the Calico Indians, and pushed for a law which outlawed disguises.<ref name=Summerhill2007 />

Trials of leaders of the revolt, charged with riot, conspiracy and robbery, were held in 1845 with [[Amasa J. Parker]] presiding. Attorneys included [[Ambrose L. Jordan]], as leading counsel for the defense, and [[John Van Buren]], the state attorney general, who personally conducted the prosecution. At the first trial, the jury came to no conclusion and Parker declared a mistrial.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bradbury |first=Anna Rossman |date=1908 |title=History of the City of Hudson, New York |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofcityofh00brad |location=Hudson, NY |publisher=Record Printing and Publishing |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofcityofh00brad/page/147 147]}}</ref> During a re-trial in September 1845, the two attorneys started a fistfight in open court. Both were sentenced by the presiding judge, [[John W. Edmonds]], to "solitary confinement in the county jail for 24 hours." At the conclusion of the trial, one defendant, Smith A. Boughton, was sentenced to life imprisonment. After the election of [[John Young (governor)|John Young]] as governor with the support of the Anti-Renters, he pardoned Boughton.<ref>{{cite book |last=Adams |first=Arthur G. |date=2003 |title=The Hudson Through the Years |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=As5tyLSVC5wC&pg=PA243 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Fordham University Press |page=243 |isbn=978-0-8232-1676-5}}</ref>

John Van Steenburgh and Edward O'Connor were sentenced to death by hanging for their involvement in the shooting death of Undersheriff Osman Steele, an incident that took place on August 7, 1845 at Moses Earle's farm in [[Andes, New York]], during a sheriff's sale that was held after Earle was unable to pay his back rent.<ref name=ODMP>{{cite web |url=https://www.odmp.org/officer/12738-undersheriff-osman-n-steele |title=Biography, Osman N. Steele |website=Officer Down Memorial Page |publisher=ODMP.org |location=Fairfax, VA |access-date=December 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Eighth Moon: A Memoir of Belonging and Rebellion|first=Jennifer|last=Kabat|publisher=Milkweed Editions|location=Minneapolis|date=2024|pages=3–5,17|isbn=9781639550685}}</ref> The day following the murder, a panel of judges met every day for a month, except on Sundays. A state of insurrection in the county was declared by the governor, and 248 people were detained in a makeshift jail.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Eighth Moon: A Memoir of Belonging and Rebellion|first=Jennifer|last=Kabat|publisher=Milkweed Editions|location=Minneapolis|date=2024|page=213|isbn=9781639550685}}</ref> Earle and two others were sentenced to life in prison.<ref name=ODMP/> Several others received lesser prison sentences.<ref name=ODMP/> Governor Young later commuted the death sentences to life in prison.<ref name=ODMP/> At least seven men including Earle were sent to [[Clinton Correctional Facility|Dannemora]] just as the prison opened in 1845.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Eighth Moon: A Memoir of Belonging and Rebellion|first=Jennifer|last=Kabat|publisher=Milkweed Editions|location=Minneapolis|date=2024|page=240|isbn=9781639550685}}</ref>

The [[New York Constitution#Constitutional Convention of 1846|New York Constitution of 1846]] added provisions for tenants' rights, abolishing feudal tenures and outlawing leases lasting longer than twelve years.<ref name=Miller1967 /><ref name=Summerhill2007 /> The remaining manors dissolved quickly as the patroons sold off the lands.<ref name=Miller1967 />

==People involved==
* [[Smith A. Boughton]], Anti-Rent leader
* Thomas Ainge Devyr, an Irish-American [[Chartism|Chartist]], printer, philosopher, and organiser.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Christman |first1=Henry M. |year=1945 |chapter=4: They Could Not Stand Idle |title=Tin Horns and Calico |isbn=3-1775-112829-9}}</ref>
* [[John W. Edmonds]], judge who presided at Anti-Rent leader trials
* [[Ambrose L. Jordan]], defense counsel at trials of Anti-Rent leaders.
* [[William Marcy]], participated in posse to end Anti-Renter insurrection.
* Edward O'Connor, Anti-Renter who was convicted for murdering Undersheriff Osman Steele. He was sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life in prison.
* [[Amasa J. Parker]], judge who presided at trials of Anti-Rent leaders,
* [[William Seward]], governor at start of Anti-Rent rebellion who took steps to end it.
* [[John I. Slingerland]], state legislator and U.S. Congressman, was an advocate for the tenants during the Anti-Rent War.<ref>{{cite book |last=McCurdy |first=Charles W. |date=2001 |title=The Anti-Rent Era in New York Law and Politics, 1839-1865 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pY_4AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA315 |page=315 |location=Chapel Hill, NC |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-0-8078-2590-7 |ref={{sfnRef|''The Anti-Rent Era in New York Law and Politics, 1839-1865''}}}}</ref>
* [[John Van Buren]], took part in posse that attempted to end Anti-Renter insurrection, prosecutor at trials of Anti-Renter leaders.
* Lawrence Van Deusen, president of the Anti-Rent Association of [[Albany County, New York]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Charles W. McCurdy|title=Anti-Rent Era in New York Law and Politics, 1839-1865|year=2001|page=205|publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=9780807825907|quote=It was a bittersweet occasion for Lawrence Van Deusen, president of the Anti-Rent Association of Albany County. Van Deusen took pride in the unity and staying power of his fellow tenants since 1839, when Stephen Van Rensselaer IV ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJQgUkbZjIAC&q=van+deusen+albany&pg=PA205}}</ref>
* [[Stephen Van Rensselaer IV]], heir to the [[Manor of Rensselaerswyck]]. His efforts to collect past due rents and refusal to negotiate with Anti-Renters was the primary cause of the dispute.
* John Van Steenburgh, Anti-Renter who was convicted for murdering Undersheriff Osman Steele. He was sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life in prison.
* [[Silas Wright]], A [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] who was governor prior to John Young, his efforts to end the Anti-Rent rebellion led to the election of Young, who was the nominee of the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]].
* [[John Young (governor)|John Young]], governor following the trials of the Anti-Rent leaders, he granted a pardon to Smith Boughton and commutations to other participants.

==See also==
* Anya Seton's novel ''[[Dragonwyck (novel)|Dragonwyck]]'' (1944), set during the Anti-Rent War<ref>{{Citation |title=Dragonwyck |year=1944|type=novel|author-link=Anya Seton|first=Anya|last=Seton}}</ref>
* [[1918–1920 New York City rent strikes]]
* [[1907 New York City Rent Strike]]
* [[List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States]]
* [[Manor of Rensselaerswyck#Anti-rent movement and downfall|Manor of Rensselaerswyck]], for further information on how the following years convinced landed proprietors to sell out their interests

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last=Christman |first=Henry |date=1961 |orig-year=1945 |title=Tin Horns and Calico: A Decisive Episode in the Emergence of American Democracy |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.49015001334987;view=1up;seq=4 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Collier Books |via=[[HathiTrust]]}}
* {{Citation | url = http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_1637_280/ai_88702710 | title = New York's Anti-rent War 1845–1846 | journal = Contemporary Review |date=June 2002 | first = Eric | last = Ford}}.
* {{Citation | first = Dorothy | last = Kubik | title = A Free Soil — A Free People: The Anti-Rent War in Delaware County, New York | year = 1997 | publisher = Purple Mountain Press | isbn = 0-935796-86-X}}.
* {{Citation | first = Charles W | last = McCurdy | title = The Anti-Rent Era in New York Law and Politics, 1839–1865 | year = 2001 | publisher = Univ of North Carolina Press | isbn = 0-8078-2590-5}}.
* Miller, Douglas T. (1967) ''Jacksonian Aristocracy: Class and Democracy in New York, 1830–1860.'' New York: Oxford University Press.
* {{Citation |first=Reeve |last=Huston |year=2004 |contribution=Popular Movements and Party Rule: The New York Anti-Rent Wars and the Jacksonian Political Order |title=Beyond the founders: new approaches to the political history of the early American republic |editor1-first=Jeffrey L |editor1-last=Pasley |editor2-first=Andrew W |editor2-last=Robertson |editor3-first=David |editor3-last=Waldstreicher |place=Chapel Hill |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |pages=355–86}}.
* {{Cite book |last=Huston |first=Reeve |title=Land and Freedom: Rural Society, Popular Protest, and Party Politics in Antebellum New York |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-195-13600-5}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Ellis |first=David M. |date=1944 |title=Land Tenure and Tenancy in the Hudson Valley, 1790-1860 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3739598 |journal=Agricultural History |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=75–82 |jstor=3739598 |issn=0002-1482}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mayham |first=Albert Champlin |url=http://archive.org/details/cu31924030043131 |title=The anti-rent war on Blenheim Hill : an episode of the 40's : a history of the struggle between landlord and tenant growing out of the patroon system in the eastern part of New York |date=1906 |publisher=Jefferson, N.Y. : F.L. Frazee |others=Cornell University Library}}
{{US housing by state}}
{{Riots in the United States (1607–1865)}}
{{Tax resistance}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Housing rights in New York}}

[[Category:1839 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:1845 disestablishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:1830s conflicts]]
[[Category:1840s conflicts]]
[[Category:1830s in New York (state)]]
[[Category:1840s in New York (state)]]
[[Category:19th-century rebellions]]
[[Category:Political history of New York (state)]]
[[Category:Rebellions in the United States]]
[[Category:Housing in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Housing protests]]
[[Category:Tarring and feathering in the United States]]
[[Category:Rent strikes]]

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