Thomas Wilson Dorr

Thomas Wilson Dorr was the central political leader of Rhode Island’s suffrage revolt, pushing to replace the old charter government with a “People’s Constitution” and a broader franchise; his movement’s failed attempt to assert authority became known as the Dorr Rebellion. After the collapse of the uprising, Dorr returned to Providence in 1843 and was arrested; he was tried for treason in Newport in 1844, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor with solitary confinement. Political pressure and shifting public sentiment led to his release in 1845, and he later had his civil rights restored. (Recorded as Dorr)