The Butter Rebellion, which took place at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1766, was the first recorded Harvard

student protest Campus protest or student protest is a form of student activism that takes the form of protest at university campuses. Such protests encompass a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or academ ...

in what is now the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. In the decade preceding the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, economic difficulties made the acquisition of fresh food difficult at Harvard. A satirical account of the Butter Rebellion, written in biblical style, was penned during According to this account, one meal with particularly rancid butter led Asa Dunbar (the grandfather of

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and h ...

) to tell a tutor, "Behold, our butter stinketh!—Give us, therefore, butter that stinketh not." In the account, Dunbar was punished for insubordination, and the next morning his fellow students protested by leaving their hall, cheering in

Harvard Yard Harvard Yard, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the oldest part of the Harvard University campus, its historic center and modern crossroads. It contains most of the freshman dormitories, Harvard's most important libraries, Memorial Church, seve ...

, and dining in town. The protests were led by seniors Dunbar, Daniel Johnson and Thomas Hodgson. The Harvard Corporation admitted much of the butter served to students was rancid, but was alarmed by a month of "violent, illegal, and insulting proceedings". Eventually the Corporation enlisted the help of Massachusetts governor Sir Francis Bernard, who addressed students in the chapel, and ended the crisis.

References

External links

*
The Book of Harvard
', satirical account of the Butter Rebellion

Sources

*Bethell, John T., Richard M. Hunt, & Robert Shenton. ''Harvard from A to Z.'' Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts. 2004. *Buettner, Cynthia K. ''Parties, Police, and Pandemonium: An exploratory study of mixed-issue campus disturbances.'' Dissertation, Ohio State University, 2004.

(Accessed: November 18, 2007) *"Butter." ''Time,'' March 23, 1925.

(Accessed: November 18, 2007) * Jill Lepore, Lepore, Jill. Lecture at Harvard University for her course: "Liberty and Slavery, the History of an American Paradox." October 18, 2005. *Poitier, Beth. "The alpha and omega of Harvard lore" in ''The Harvard Gazette,'' June, 2004.

(Accessed: November 18, 2007) *Wood, Sandy & Kara Kovalchik. "College protests in America began in the 1960s, right? Not quite. Back up a couple hundred years," in ''Mental Floss,'' April 6, 2003.

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