Bibliograph

The fires of Philadelphia, citizen-soldiers, nativists, and the 1844 riots over the soul of a nation, Zachary M. Schrag

Type

Label

The fires of Philadelphia, citizen-soldiers, nativists, and the 1844 riots over the soul of a nation, Zachary M. Schrag

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Illustrations

mapsillustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The fires of Philadelphia

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

1252716747

Responsibility statement

Zachary M. Schrag

Sub title

citizen-soldiers, nativists, and the 1844 riots over the soul of a nation

Summary

"...[A] comprehensive look at the 1844 riots that pitted nativist Protestants in Philadelphia against Irish Catholic immigrants. Positioning the riots as a precursor to the Civil War, Schrag details how leaders of the American Republican Party (a forerunner of the Know Nothing Party), including charismatic newspaperman and future U.S. congressman Lewis Levin, fanned the flames of anti-immigrant resentment by alleging that Irish Catholics were a "menace to American self-government." Allegations spread that Catholics were trying to remove the Protestant bible from public schools, and a nativist rally in the Irish neighborhood of Kensington erupted into a brawl, sparking waves of violence that led to the burning of two Catholic churches and the ransacking of a third, the deaths of dozens of protestors, and a military takeover of the city."--, Publisher's Weekly

Table Of Contents

Hurrah for the natives, and kill the damned Irish! -- Brilliant and unscrupulous -- The best amateur officer in the United States -- American-born citizens -- The mob shall rule -- Bayonets and ball cartridges -- The gospel of the Devil -- Arouse, native borns! -- A band of armed ruffians -- I have got my man! -- A rush of the soldiers -- How can we fire on our own citizens? -- The sky a sheet of flames -- The Lord seeth -- Humanity weeps -- Won't we give it to you on the Fourth of July? -- Are there any guns in the church? -- Don't you fire! -- By Jesus Christ we'll have him out! -- A fight must come off some time -- You bloody sons of bitches! -- Secret, covert, murderous -- The mob is now supreme -- Saviors of the homestead and hearthstone -- Congress or the penitentiary -- Epilogue

Classification