Cradle of Violence or Crime at Mayerling

Cradle of Violence: How Boston's Waterfront Mobs Ignited the American Revolution

Author: Russell Bourn

They did the dirty work of the American Revolution

Their spontaneous uprisings and violent actions steered America toward resistance to the Acts of Parliament and finally toward revolution. They tarred and feathered the backsides of British customs officials, gutted the mansion of Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson, armed themselves with marline spikes and cudgels to fight on the waterfront against soldiers of the British occupation, and hurled the contents of 350 chests of British East India Company tea into Boston Harbor under the very guns of the anchored British fleet.

Cradle of Violence introduces the maritime workers who ignited the American Revolution: the fishermen desperate to escape impressment by Royal Navy press gangs, the frequently unemployed dockworkers, the wartime veterans and starving widows—all of whose mounting "tumults" led the way to rebellion. These were the hard-pressed but fiercely independent residents of Boston's North and South Ends who rallied around the Liberty Tree on Boston Common, who responded to Samuel Adams's cries against "Tyranny," and whose headstrong actions helped embolden John Hancock to sign the Declaration of Independence. Without the maritime mobs' violent demonstrations against authority, the politicians would not have spurred on to utter their impassioned words; Great Britain would not have been provoked to send forth troops to quell the mob-induced rebellion; the War of Independence would not have happened.

One of the mobs' most telling demonstrations brought about the Boston Massacre. After it, John Adams attempted to calm the town by dismissing the waterfront characters who had been killed as "arabble of saucy boys, negroes and mulattoes, Irish teagues, and outlandish jack tars." Cradle of Violence demonstrates that they were, more truly, America's first heroes.

Table of Contents:

	Preface: Boston's "Jack Tars" and the Birth of Rebellion	ix
Part 1	The Ancient Ideal of Seamen's Equality	1
1	The Maritime Origins of a Mutinous Town	3
2	The Seaport's First Revolt	25
3	The Rising of the Mobs	45
4	The South End Gang and the Stamp Act	73
5	The Sailors' Liberty Tree	95
Part 2	Waterfront Uprisings before the Revolution	119
6	Tar, Feathers, and Terror	121
7	A Dockside Riot and the Massacre	145
8	The Maritime Workers' Tea Party	171
9	The Fighting Spirit of a Besieged Boston	199
	Epilogue: "Public Liberty": An Enduring Dream	231
	Acknowledgments, Sources, and Interpretations	239
	Bibliography	251
	Index	259

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Crime at Mayerling (Studies in Austrian Literature, Culture and Thought Series): The Life and Death of Mary Vetsera : With New Expert Opinions Following the Desecration of Her Grave

Author: Georg Markus

Crime at Mayerling deals with two of the most sensational crimes committed during the past century. Although separated in time by a hundred years, they are inextricably connected. In January 1889 the corpses of Archduke Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, and of Baroness Mary Vetsera were discovered in the prince's hunting lodge at Mayerling, near Vienna. In December 1992 Mary's remains were stolen from a cemetery in the same area. For decades, scientists and historians had been trying to solve the mystery of what had happened at Mayerling. An Austrian "Mayerling buff" felt compelled to reach an explanation in his own way: he secretly opened the grave of Baroness Vetsera at night, stole the coffin with her remains, and had them examined by forensic physicians and other specialists. Georg Markus, a Viennese author and journalist, discovered the desecration of the grave, reported it to the police, and obtained for his newspaper the exclusive rights to the story. His reporting led to an early solution of the case. There has been considerable speculation about the crime at Mayerling for over a century. Now, for the first time, the way Mary Vetsera died can be precisely reconstructed, providing information that contributes to a final resolution of the mystery.