The Cincinnati Riots of 1829 were triggered by competition between Irish immigrants and African Americans for jobs in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States but also were related to white fears given the rapid increases of free and fugitive blacks in the city during this decade, particularly in the preceding three years. Merchants complained about the poor neighborhoods along the river as having ill effects on their waterfront shops and trade with southern planters. Artisans excluded blacks from apprenticeships and jobs in the skilled trades.In June 1829 overseers of the poor announced that blacks would be required to post bonds of surety in 30 days or face expulsion from the city and state, in an enforcement of the 1807 Black Law, intended to discourage black settlement in the state.