- For the group of actors who made a series of films between 1946 and 1958, see The Bowery Boys. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Bowery Boys was a group of actors who made a series of films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958.
The Bowery Boys were a nativist, anti-Catholic, and anti-Irish gang based North of the Five Points district of New York City. Nativism is an Opposition to immigration which originated in United States politics with roots in the country's historic role as a Melting pot. Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for Discrimination, hostility or Prejudice directed at the Roman Catholic Church or its followers Anti-Irish racism includes Persecution, Discrimination, Hatred or Fear of the Irish as an ethnic or national group whether directed against Gangsters redirects here For the computer game see Gangsters (video game. Five Points (or The Five Points) was a notorious Slum centered on the intersection of Anthony (now Worth Orange (now Baxter Mulberry (still the same name Cross The City of New York They were primarily stationed in the Bowery section of New York, which was, at the time, extended north of the Five Points. It was said that the gang was so popular during its time that many of the lesser gangs of the Bowery followed it in its various fights with the Dead Rabbits.
Bowery Boys were mostly single males who frequented the saloons and brothels of the Bowery and dressed in black stovepipe hats, red shirts, black flared trousers, high-heeled calfskin boots and black vests with oil-slicked hair. Bowery (ˈbaʊɚi or /ˈbaʊri/ is the name of a street and a small neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. For the item of clothing see Top hat. For the fictional TUGS character see Top Hat (TUGS. One famous member of the Bowery Boys was William Poole, also known as Bill the Butcher. William Poole ( July 24, 1821 &ndash March 8, 1855) also known as Bill the Butcher, was a member of the New York City His murderer was Lew Baker in The Gangs of New York, but in the book Paddy Whacked by T. J. English, the author claims that an Irishman named John Morrissey murdered Bill after having a fight with him.
The Bowery Boys often fought Irish gangs from the Five Points such as longtime rivals the Dead Rabbits and were affiliated with the "Know-Nothing", or "American", political party which lasted from 1849 to 1856 and the Civil War era Democratic Party. Five Points (or The Five Points) was a notorious Slum centered on the intersection of Anthony (now Worth Orange (now Baxter Mulberry (still the same name Cross The Dead Rabbits was a gang in New York City in the 1850s originally part of the Roach Guards. The Know Nothing movement was a Nativist American political movement of the 1850s The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. It is noted that whether the above information is true or not, Asbury's book clearly states that the gang was most famous for helping the nativist movement. The party, which ultimately replaced the Whig party in New York, had nothing to do with the "Native Americans" of today. It consisted mainly of "native born Americans" and was opposed to the election of immigrants to office, but clearly in favor of equal rights for all. Originally, it was a branch of Tammany Hall, but decided to go on its own after many disagreements. The Bowery Boys, deciding to align itself with the Native Americans party, had many fights with the O'Connell Guards, who decidedly aligned itself with Tammany Hall.
During the New York Draft Riots of 1863 the Bowery Boys took part in much of the looting while fighting with rival gangs. The New York Draft Riots (July 11 to July 16 1863 known at the time as Draft Week) were violent disturbances in New York City that were the culmination By the end of the decade, however, the gang had split into various factions as the Bowery Boys gradually disappeared.
Herbert Asbury's book, Gangs of New York, describes the most famous leader of the Bowery Boys as a man only referred to as Mose. He is described as "at least 8 feets tall and broad in proportion, and his colossal bulk was crowned by a great shock of ginger-colored hair, on which he wore a beaver hat measuring more than two from crown to brim. His hands were as large as the hams of a Virginia hog, and on those rare moments when he was in repose they dangled below his knees; it was Skysey's habit to boast pridefully that his chieftain could stand erect and scratch his kneecap. The feet of the great captain were so large that the ordinary boot of commerce would not fit his big toe; he wore specially constructed footgear, the soles of which were copper plates studded with nails an inch long. Woe and desolation came upon the gangs of the Five Points when the great Mose leaped into their midst and began to kick and stamp; they fled in despair and hid themselves in the innermost depths of the rookeries of Paradise Square. "
The "Bowery Boys" is also the name of a popular New York City history podcast The Bowery Boys: NYC History, hosted by amateur historians Greg Young and Tom Meyers, and named in honor of the original gang.
Further reading
- Adams, Peter. The Bowery Boys: Street Corner Radicals and the Politics of Rebellion. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-275-98538-5
References
- Asbury, Herbert. Herbert Asbury ( September 1, 1889 — February 24, 1963) was an American Journalist and Writer who is best The Gangs of New York. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. ISBN 1-56025-275-8
- Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc. , 2001. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0
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