Ursuline Convent Riots

The Ursuline Convent Riots were riots occurring on August 11 and August 12, 1834 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, near Boston in what is now Somerville, Massachusetts. During the riot, a convent of Roman Catholic Ursuline nuns was burned down by a Protestant mob. The event was triggered by reported abuse of a member of the order, and was fuelled by the rebirth of extreme anti-Catholic sentiment in antebellum New England.