While reading All the Nations Under Heaven: a brief overview of the making of the ethnically diverse NYC, there were definitely one thing that stood out to me: the affect of the Irish immigrants from 1789 to 1880. Their ability to come together as a group, avoid assimilation, and use their combined power to affect the politics of NYC, truly stands out as an example of the power of a singular group in this amazing city’s politics. The way they used their power to gain favor with Tammany Hall, led to an improvement in their way of living, and protected the rights they wanted to keep( such as saloons staying open).  This struck me as the possible precedent for campaigning techniques that are prevalent in our world today. When politicians are campaigning to be mayor ( or any other elected post) they are always running from one minority group to another to sway the groups’ votes to their side. These politicians realize that the power of gaining a minority ethnic group’s support in certain districts can make or break a campaign. Furthermore, just like the Irish with Tammany Hall, these politicians are willing to promise almost anything to gain the support of any given minority group.

Personally, I felt that this was an important development in how our city runs day to day. For the first time a minority decided to stand up for what they believed in and actually were able to convince those in power. From John Hughes creating a strong Catholic Church to his advent of parochial schools, he led the Irish immigrants in their fight against “the man.” I believe this paved the way for all minorities to get their views heard, as they now had a precedent to rely on. In today’s NYC where there are constantly new waves of different ethnic groups coming in, as seen in the presentation by Joe Salvo last Tuesday night, this is extremely important. For us to work together in the world’s “melting pot” we all need to be able to have our voices heard.