{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Books & Looks","title":"Doctors' Riot of 1788: Body Snatching, Bloodletting, and Anatomy in America with Andy McPhee | #141","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2650,"description":"Discover the Doctor's Riot of 1788 and the grim history of body snatching. Learn about 18th-century anatomy riots and the shocking modern-day black market for body parts.Episode Resources:Get your copy of \"Doctors' Riot of 1788: Body Snatching, Bloodletting, and Anatomy in America\" by Andy McPheeConnect with Andy McPheeIn 1788, a furious mob stormed the streets of New York, not over taxes or tyranny, but over stolen corpses. This was the Doctor's Riot of 1788, a violent clash that exposed the grim underworld of 18th-century medical science. What drove medical students to dig up fresh graves in the dead of night? In this episode, we're joined by author Andy McPhee to discuss his book, The Doctor's Riot of 1788, and uncover the shocking history of body snatching, a practice that, in some forms, continues to this day. We explore the central dilemma: how could medicine advance without access to the one thing society refused to give?The history of body snatching in America is a dark and fascinating tale of science, ethics, and social class. Author Andy McPhee details how, five years after the Revolutionary War, New York City was a tinderbox of tension. Medical students at New York Hospital, desperate for cadavers to study anatomy, regularly stole bodies from the \"Negroes Burial Ground.\" While the city's Black population protested, their pleas were ignored. The situation exploded only when students began taking bodies from the white Trinity church graveyard. The riot was sparked by a medical student, likely John Hicks, Jr., who taunted a young boy by dangling a dismembered arm from a window, claiming it was the boy's recently deceased mother. This single act ignited days of chaos, pitting a mob against founding fathers like John Jay and Baron von Steuben, who tried - and failed - to quell the violence.This episode delves into the legal and moral gray areas of the time, explaining the critical difference between body snatching and grave robbing; one was a minor offense,...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/oq8pfCVOaRFaQ_5sLfAhAv0t-iFX8G7c43zH1_aXC78/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMjYy/Y2ExYzZkODRjNWVk/MDkxZjk4MGNiNzE2/Y2ZkYi5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}