New York in the nineteenth century was marked by various politicians of Tammany Hall controlling the voting populace and political candidates. They consolidated power through the manipulation and ownership of saloons, which were typically run by German and Irish immigrants. One such person was Captain Isaiah Rynders, who managed the police force, several saloons, and most “groceries” which served alcohol. He was responsible for orchestrating the Astor Place Riots of 1849, taking advantage of two rivalling groups’ competing visions for a production Macbeth. The saloon-running immigrants were at odds with wealthy Americans putting on a British-led play in Astor House. Rynders distributed a handbill reading, “Shall Americans or English rule in this city?” and a bunch of tickets to the Astor House performance to his network of saloons — thus leading to a riot in the theatre that killed twenty-two and injured many. This was the first full-blown fight between urban immigrants and anti-immigrant Nativists.
Nativists were against the Democratic party for its ties to immigrant-run saloons, and lobbied for prohibitionists policies targeting establishments associated with immigrants and the working poor. German and Irish people were targeted in particular, and were demonized for holding “liquor power” over the American government. Campaigns tightened regulations around public spaces Catholics use for political organizing, enforced Sunday closing for bars, and barring accessibilities for immigrants in general. The Metropolitan Police Act mandated the disbanding of the city’s police department and the replacement by a force administered by a state-appointed board of commissioners. The 1857 New York riots turned Five Points, a center of immigrants and saloons, into a zone of warfare. German and Irish immigrants angered by Sunday closing laws ex-policemen and various Five Pointers gangs joined together in the riots. Pat Mathews and his gang of Bowery Boys came in to repel the opposition. The struggle became known as the the “Dead Rabbits/Bowery Boy Riot”, where the Five Pointers were incorrectly dubbed the “Dead Rabbits”, a general term which would soon refer to any of groups instigating or associated with riots. The Bowery Boys weren’t prosecuted for rioting despite causing the most injuries, with the possible justification that they were defending the police. In contrast, the majority of the casualties were the “Dead Rabbits”, which went mainly unpunished. Next to the Astor Place Riot, the Dead Rabbits Riot was amongst the bloodiest anti-immigrant-fueled riots in New York’s history.
