The armories of New York City were designed to overawe the working classes, but the state also funded twenty-six armories outside the city. In 1887, in response to the Great Upheaval the federal government doubled the appropriations to equip National Guard units, but the amount was still a modest $400,000.33 Governors eventually used the Guard to quell civil disorder 328 times between 1886 and 1895.
