As anatomy classes in medical education proliferated in the 19th century, so too did the need for bodies to dissect. Grave robbery proliferated, along with associated social discontent, revulsion, and unhappiness. Conflicts arose between medical practitioners and defenders of bodies, graves and graveyards. This resulted in riots. Social legislation was passed in many countries to address the competing concerns. History The sociopolitical issues of anatomy in America in the 19th century largely stemmed from the increased use of anatomy in the medical curriculum, headed by Xavier Bichat, René Laennec, and other European and American physicians. In America, medical education expanded significantly during this period, with the number of medical schools going from four in 1800 to more than 160 in 1900. The conventional medical establishment became concerned with a possible decline in quality of medical students and the competition of orthodox medicine. In the face of these pressures, the American medical profession turned to identify with anatomy and European science (then seen as the most advanced and prestigious). With increasing anatomical emphasis in hospitals and the medical curriculum following changes in European medicine in the early 19th century, physicians in the US similarly sought to set the medical profession apart from alternative medicine and other rivals through increased anatomical studies. As a result, the demand for corpses by medical students for dissection studies grew, which in turn propelled widespread medical grave-robbing, social strife and legislative changes to provide anatomists with legal supplies of cadavers. Medical grave robbery prompted anatomy riots in nearly every medical institution and drove changes in legislatures. The increase in importance of anatomy in medical studies also increased society's interest in the human body, which prompted the popularization of anatomy museums. Grave robbery The societal funerary obligation to respect the dead made it difficult for anatomists to obtain bodies for dissection. It was legal in most US states to dissect executed criminals, but the number of people executed was insufficient for the growing medical body. Thus, the medical schools had to resort to sourcing cadavers from graves. Ostensibly, authorities were willing to turn a blind eye on the desecration of graves, so long as it involved only the graves of those who had been impoverished or poorly connected. Christians were particularly against dissections as they believed that only complete bodies could be resurrected. In addition, dissections were commonly associated with executed, i.e., hanged criminals, thus many perceived