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The Butter Rebellion, which took place at Harvard University in 1766, was the first recorded Harvard student protest in what is now the United States. In the decade preceding the American Revolution, 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 the American Revolution. According to this account, one meal with particularly rancid butter led Asa Dunbar (the grandfather of Henry David Thoreau) 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, 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

1. ^ Samuel Eliot Morison (1936). Three Centuries of Harvard. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp. 117–118.
2. Pisner, Noah B. (October 20, 2011). "Past Tense: A Tradition of Protest". The Harvard Crimson.
3. ^ Batchelder, Samuel (1920). "The History of Commons at Harvard III". Harvard Alumni Bulletin. 23. Harvard Bulletin, Incorporated: 752.

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)
• 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. (Accessed: November 18, 2007)

v t e Butter
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Dishes featuring butter	Butter-based sauces Beurre blanc Beurre fondue Beurre monté Beurre noir Beurre noisette Café de Paris sauce Compound butter Beurre Maître d'Hôtel Truffle butter Garlic butter Other Butter cookie Butter tea Deep-fried butter Egg butter Fettuccine Alfredo List of butter dishes
Butter paraphernalia	Butter churn Butter curler Butter knife Butter stamp French butter dish Scotch hands
Butter industry	Boterwet Butterfat Buttermilk Butter grading Chicago Butter and Egg Board Churning Print butter
Butter brands	Anchor Bretel Land O'Lakes Lurpak Magnolia Ornua/Kerrygold Plugrà Président Western Star
Butter in culture	Buttergate Butter sculpture Butter lamb Torma Iowa State Fair Butter lamp Butter rebellion Buttered cat paradox Buttered toast phenomenon Norwegian butter crisis
Miscellaneous	Butter mountain Artificial butter flavoring Fruit butter Nut butter Butter salt Dairy salt List of spreads Butter churning in Nepal Molly McButter
Category: Butter

• Food

• Student protests in Massachusetts
• Butter
• Harvard University
• 1766 in the Thirteen Colonies
• Conflicts in 1766