American politician, born at Providence, RI, on the 5th of November 1805; graduated at Harvard in 1823, and was admitted to the bar and practiced in Providence. He was a member of the state assembly, being elected as a Federalist, but became a Democrat, exerting himself in securing a more liberal franchise to the people. The state at this time was governed under an old charter granted in 1663 by Charles II., in which the suffrage was limited to possessors of real estate to the amount of $134, and to the eldest sons of these owners. The representation was also greatly disproportionate to the population of the various districts and towns. After fruitless efforts in the assembly, Dorr organized a suffrage party in 1841. A state convention was held at Providence on October 4th, and a constitution framed, which was submitted to the people in December and carried by a majority of the adult male citizens. It was claimed that it was carried by a majority of the legal voters. The legislature likewise called a convention, framed a constitution, and submitted it to the people in March 1842, when it was rejected. Elections were held under the “Suffrage” constitution and also under the old charter, resulting in the election, for the respective parties, of T. W. Dorr and Samuel W. King. On May 3rd, both governments organized. King called out the militia, proclaiming martial law, at the same time asking Federal aid, the national government recognizing him as the legal governor. The Suffragists attempted to gain possession of the arsenal at Providence, but failed. Dorr went to Washington to plead the cause of his party, and on his return received assurance that the people would defend their rights by arms. But the number who turned out was a mere handful, and Dorr advised them to disperse, thus securing peace. In the same month (June) another call for a convention was issued by the legislature, which met and finally adopted the present constitution, which embodied nearly all the points for which the Suffragists had contended. This was approved unanimously by the people. Thus “Dorr’s rebellion” terminated. He was, on his return from New Hampshire, whence he had fled, arrested, tried for high treason, and condemned to imprisonment for life, June 24, 1844. He was released three years later under a general amnesty, and restored to his civil rights in 1851. The legislature passed a bill to reverse the judgment in his case, in 1853, but the supreme court of the state declared the act unconstitutional. The next year, December 27th, Dorr died at Providence.
