20 Historic Rebellions With Tragic and Bloody Ends

The only coup in US history occurred in North Carolina in 1898. A mob of white supremacists armed with rifles and pistols marched on City Hall in Wilmington and overthrew the local government, forcing both black and white officials to resign. The leader of the mob was later elected as mayor.

During the Reign of terror in the French Revolution, suspected royal sympathizers were rounded up in groups of 300-400 people. They were hogtied and placed on ships which were sunk at sea. This was known as Republican Baptisms. About 9000 people, mostly clergy, were estimated to have met this fate.

In 131 A.D., the Jews revolted against Rome for the second time in 50 years. Emperor Hadrian put down the Bar Kokhba revolt. He slaughtered 580,000 Jews and sold the remnants into slavery, starting a diaspora that would not be reversed for roughly 1800 years.

The German Coast Uprising of 1811 was the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history. It resulted in the death of 2 white men. In total, 95 black people were hanged and mutilated with their heads used to decorate New Orleans.

On August 25, 1921, the largest civil uprising in US history since the Civil War occurred when 10,000 Coal Miners battled 3,000 cops and "strikebreakers". The coal miners were attempting to unionize the coal mines of West Virginia. US Troops were eventually brought in by Presidential Order.

A slave rebellion broke out on slave ship La Amistad in 1839, resulting in two deaths. The slaves were captured and stood trial. It was ruled that they acted as free men, and were entitled to take any measures necessary to ensure freedom, including force. They were all returned to Africa.

The Indian rebellion of 1857 started because the East India Trading Company was asking its soldiers to bite the seal off their ammo cartridges, which were sealed with pork and beef animal fats (against Muslim and Hindu beliefs).

During the Hungarian Uprising, Radio Bucharest was raided by the Soviets in early October 1956, leaving only one western recording for the station to play: “My Boy Lollipop” by Barbie Gaye. The station played the song non-stop for over a month, making it very much the song of the revolution.

In 570 B.C., during a rebellion against Pharaoh Apries, one of his generals, Amasis, joined the rebels. Apries sent a messenger to try and convince Amasis to return. After listening to the messenger, Amasis raised his leg, farted, and told him to take that back to the Pharaoh.

During the American Revolution, a young Andrew Jackson was ordered by a British officer to clean his boots. When he refused, the officer slashed his sword at him, resulting in cuts on his hand and cheek. This left him with resentment towards all things British until his conversion in 1842.