The Doctors' Riot of 1788: Body Snatching, Bloodletting, and Anatomy in America

by Andy McPhee, Tim H. Dixon (Narrator)

Throughout the seventeenth century, medical lecturers demonstrated human anatomy by dissecting a cadaver while surrounded by students. After the Revolutionary War, though, instructors realized that they needed many more cadavers to serve a growing number of medical students. Enter the “resurrectionists”–body snatchers. Resurrectionists were a cruel lot; men (almost always men and often medical students themselves) who would sneak into a cemetery under the cover of darkness, remove a body, and then sell it to a physician or anatomist–usually for around $100.

In April 1788, word of one particular body snatching quickly spread, and over the course of days, thousands of New Yorkers descended upon a New York City anatomy lab in a growing and dangerous riot. This book reveals the forgotten history of the so-called Doctors' Riot of 1788, along the way explaining the history of body snatching in the United States and England and exploring the moral questions behind an existential medical Does the need for medical students to learn anatomy on cadavers override society’s demand for maintaining the dignity of its dead?

As the Doctors' Riot boiled over, Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton and John Jay and Revolutionary War hero Baron von Steuben were called in to quell the rioters, to no avail. Eventually, the state militia was ordered to fire into the crowd, killing several and injuring far more.

In this riveting and revelatory history, Andy McPhee delves into the post-revolutionary period of America to trace the foundational changes spurred by the riot, the influence of the riot on framers of the Constitution, the formation of Black-only churches and graveyards, how the discovery of formaldehyde heralded a new era in embalming practices, what body snatching looks like today, and how the teaching of anatomy continues to change and adapt to new technologies.

Audible Audio

Published March 2, 2026

About the author

Former critical care nurse, nurse educator, and award-winning writer, Andy McPhee is the author of four books and hundreds of news articles for young adults. He has overseen the publication of dozens of educational healthcare textbooks and now writes true stories in American history. His latest book is The Doctors’ Riot of 1788: Body Snatching, Bloodletting, and Anatomy in America, published by Prometheus Books, a division of Globe Pequot Press. He is also the author of Donora Death Fog: Clean Air and the Tragedy of a Pennsylvania Mill Town, from the University of Pittsburgh Press. Andy loves golf and fine food, and he lives with his wife and two dogs in Saint Petersburg, Florida.

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF. I was intrigued by the topic but it became a very dry read. As I age my patience runs thin. Less time left to force myself to read as discipline.

[Cheryl Klopcic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting topic

[Elizabeth Maier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my preferred genre. Lots of history!!!

[Manda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like this book could’ve been a long form article instead of a book.