The causes of the riot had to deal with growing tension between the Irish, German, and Catholic immigrants and nativists. As immigrants started to become more apparent, nativists felt more threatened that America would not be America anymore. They found that the immigrants were bringing bad things to the country. In fact, the immigrants tended to lead to the rise of groceries and saloons. Groceries were mostly run by German immigrants and had tables and chairs to encourage families to eat together. German immigrants also lead to the production of lagen. On the other hand, the Irish ran more saloons which had a long bar for men to drink at. As German, Irish, and Catholic immigrants became more prominent in America, nativists started to push for laws to restrain their practices such as blue laws and the Maine laws. This would prevent businesses to be run on Sundays and incur higher prices on alcohol to possibly weaken these businesses and regain the nativists dominance of the community from these “intruders”. Politics soon became involved as people who ran for positions tended to stand either on the nativists’ or immigrants’ stand. The Democratic party was also divided into nativists and non-nativists and even were pushed to the point that nativists Democrats worked together with Republicans to discourage the better treatment of immigrants. In addition, certain states prevented immigrants from voting by stating they can only vote if they own property. Thus, the constant oppression of these immigrants and the built up anger led to riots and fights that also defined the tension between supporters of different political candidates.
I believe that the racial tension is somewhat similar to when America was segregated into “Whites” and “Blacks”. Similar to how many laws were made, not necessarily for the better of society, but for the oppression and disadvantage of immigrants, Americans have also made laws that disadvantaged African Americans and made them less of a citizen even after they were granted freedom. For example, one was required to pass a literacy test to cast a vote. However, African Americans did not receive the same education privileges as white Americans and often failed these tests. In fact, some people who gave tests to African Americans rigged the test in order to not allow African Americans to vote. I see racial tension even today with how order are separating immigrants from their families back home and are alienating them. The recurring pattern I see is that laws that are defended for being good for the community but ultimately disadvantage a certain racial group are based on the fear that the racial group is going to harm and destroy “America”.
