Before we get started, we are doing a little something different today. This is a pilot episode. We're going to answer this week's question in a long-form storytelling format. Thank you for listening. Let us know what you think. A fire spread across Chicago on October 8, 1871.

It burned for 36 hours.

Then rainfall mercifully put it out.

The devastation was immense.

The fire destroyed thousands of buildings.

It killed 300 people, and it left 100,000 people homeless.

In the smoldering ashes, there were stories of looting chaos.

So the mayor of Chicago declared martial law.

Hundreds of federal troops were brought in to keep the peace.

They're literally marching in basically the day after the fire.

And to be really clear, when they march in,

a whole bunch of people in Chicago are literally standing on the streets,

you know, applauding them for coming in and protecting the city.

Martial law lasted less than two weeks.

Ten days in, a member of the federal force shot and killed a civilian, a Chicago City

attorney named Thomas Grovener.

You know, within a couple of days, this falls apart like a house of cards and the federal

soldiers are gone.

I'm Erin Allen and this is Curious City.

In recent months, we've gotten a few questions about martial law.

When federal immigration agents descended on Chicago and Minneapolis, one listener wanted to know, was that martial law?

What does martial law even mean?

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