I was much appalled after reading the chapter “Riots” in the book Five Points by Tyler Anbinder. In the present day, the New York Police Department is, from what I understand, supposedly one of the best departments in the country, so I was shocked to read that at one point, it allowed such blasphemy to be unleashed.
However, the people of Five Points, who were poor and had not much else to live for, perhaps used violence to get their way in politics because it was their only hope. The Bowery Boy riot, which pitted followers of different political candidates against each other, had witnessed the second largest loss of life to that date. Yet, it is very significant in the history of the area of Five Points because it marked the end of conflicts derived from differences in ethnicity; instead, it was an intra-ethnic conflict rather than an inter-ethnic one. Five Points was also beginning to become increasingly Irish, and the ethnic differences that once made up Five Points were disappearing. In essence, it was a battle among the Irish Americans for political control, which was certainly to them given the dire situations.
Another important point however, was that the election of Irish Catholics proved that political bosses such as Boss Tweed and others who were influential, like Tammany leaders, could not view the Irish Catholics as easy victories. As some of the newly elected politicians attempted to spread their influences beyond the sixth ward, marked an victory for Five Points.
