Tammany Hall in New
York City became the political fortress of the Irish. Election riots
of the first magnitude were part of the routine of elections, and the
"Bloody Sixth Ward Boys" were notorious for their hooliganism on
election day.
The suggestions of the nativists that paupers and criminals be
excluded from immigration were not embodied into law. The movement
soon was lost in the greater questions which slavery was thrusting
into the foreground. When the fight with nativism was over, the Irish
were in possession of the cities. They displayed an amazing aptitude
for political plotting and organization and for that prime essential
to political success popularly known as "mixing." Policemen and
aldermen, ward heelers, bosses, and mayors, were known by their
brogue. The Irish demonstrated their loyalty to the Union in the Civil
War and merged readily into American life after the lurid prejudices
against them faded.
Unfortunately, a great deal of this prejudice was revived when the
secret workings of an Irish organization in Pennsylvania were
unearthed. Among the anthracite coal miners a society was formed,
probably about 1854, called the Molly Maguires, a name long known in
Ireland. The members were all Irish, professed the Roman Catholic
faith, and were active in the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
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