The Dead Rabbits riot boiled down to a fight that has been seen often in history and one that we will continue to see. It was between Nativists (people who feared immigrants entering America) and immigrants (of the Irish and German descent in this case). The Nativists partnered themselves with and formed the Bowery Boys Gang while the Dead Rabbits gang was composed of the Irish immigrants.
Alcohol is a huge part of the German and Irish immigrant’s culture. German and Irish immigrants had opened up many saloons in New York City in which immigrants could go to relax and drink alcohol. The Nativists did not approve of all the saloons and pubs opening up around the city and so they tried to set up laws restricting the sale of alcohol. One example of a law that did this was the law that banned the selling of alcohol or the drinking of alcohol on Sunday which was considered a holy day. By imposing laws that limited the sale and consumption of alcohol, the Nativists were really suppressing immigrant culture and lifestyle as well as cutting into the profits of saloons and pubs.
Another reason there was tension between the Nativists and the immigrants is that the immigrants favored Fernando Wood who was opposed by the Nativists. The immigrants supported Wood because he supported the saloons and their establishments, but the Nativists considered him to be a corrupt political machine. The Nativists not only passed unfair laws regulating alcohol, but also dismantled the police force set up by Wood and had specially appointed commissioners to do the duty of the police force which also targeted immigrants.
Eventually, tensions spilled over between the Nativists who feared the arrival of the immigrants and the immigrants who were tired of being suppressed by the Nativists. Although the riot itself was between the Bowery Boys gang and the Dead Rabbit gang, there was really a bigger motive behind the riot and bigger stakes were at play.
