The Dead Rabbits Riot occurred on July 4th 1857 over the land of the Five Points. This riot, however, was not the first instance of tension between immigrants and nativists. In 1849, the Astor Place Riots were a sign of emotional tension involving the poor and the nativist elite. The Astor Opera House was one of the last remnants of New York’s elite and these riots were born over two versions of the Shakespearian play Macbeth. This provided an elevated and charged atmosphere for the next few years.
Similar to the Astor Place Riot, the Dead Rabbits Riot was between Nativists and immigrants. This riot was caused by many factors that had underlying motives. Many believed that Wood was corrupt and made money through overcharging drunk customers. His practice of “machine politics” led many to rally against him in search for reform. He had control over the voting population and eventually rose to Tammany, where he promised to limit the sale of alcoholic beverages. This, despite his promise, never happened. Thus, nativists, Democrats, and Republicans teamed up against Wood and the Irish-Catholic immigrants (many of whom owned and operated saloons and taverns). The Irish immigrants were fond of him because of efforts he made to create jobs and provide food during the winter recession of 1854. The riots were caused by political tension that involved Wood’s broken promise to limit alcohol sale, a nativist attitude against Irish immigrants, and a desire for prohibitionist policies. Alcohol consumption was offensive to some people so they began lobbying for policies that controlled the sale of alcoholic beverages at the expense of the working poor and Irish immigrants. Irish immigrants were singled out for having control over liquor supply and thus, they were targeted as the issue. So, nativists launched campaigns that would make it harder for Irish immigrants to gather in saloons, the only place close to home where they could relax after a long day. The nativists began opposing further immigration and urban growth for the Irish and they wanted to instill “blue laws” that would interfere with their businesses. These blue laws, enforced by Boone, didn’t allow saloons to remain open and sell alcoholic beverages on Sundays, the most lucrative day of the week for business. Boone also raised the liquor license fee from $50 a year to $300 in an attempt to diminish “all the lower classes of dives and leave the business in the hands of the better class of saloon keepers.” During this time, they also enforced the Metropolitan police act in which Boone mandated that the city police department be disbanded and replaced with state troops. This angered the ex-policemen who were joined by the Irish immigrants, angered by the enforced laws that they believed were part of a conspiracy to deny the Irish their fair share, to go to the streets and begin the Dead Rabbits Riot against the Bowery Boys (nativist gang).
