Green Corn Rebellion

Green Corn Rebellion
Part of the American Theater of World War I and the Revolutions of 1917–1923

The Green Corn Rebellion was centered in rural Seminole County in southeastern Oklahoma.
DateAugust 2–3, 1917
Location
Seminole County, Oklahoma
Belligerents
Pontotoc Rebels United States United States
Commanders and leaders
Working Class Union (?) Woodrow Wilson
Strength
800 to 1,000? Thousands
Casualties and losses
3 killed
450 arrested

The Green Corn Rebellion was an armed uprising that took place in rural Oklahoma on August 2 and 3, 1917. The uprising was a reaction by European-Americans, tenant farmers, Seminoles, Muscogee Creeks, and African-Americans to an attempt to enforce the Selective Draft Act of 1917.[1] The name "Green Corn Rebellion" was a reference to the purported plans of the rebels to march across the country and to eat "green corn" on the way for sustenance.[2] They hoped to be joined by thousands of sympathizers, march to Washington, D.C., overthrow the federal government, abolish the draft, and end U.S. involvement in the war. Many of the rebels were aligned with the Socialist Party of America.[3]

Betrayed by an informer in their midst, the country rebels met with a well-armed posse of townsmen. Shots were exchanged and three people killed. In the aftermath of the incident, scores of arrests were made and the Socialist Party of America, which had been strong in the region, was discredited in the public eye for allegedly having attempted to foment revolution. The incident became a pretext for national reprisals against the Industrial Workers of the World and the Socialist Party of America.[4]

  1. ^ Chang 187
  2. ^ Sellars, Nigel Anthony. "Green Corn Rebellion," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Accessed March 1, 2015.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Burbank134 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ “Socialist gets 20 years for draft resistance” from The Los Angeles Herald, June 12, 1918