Bloody Monday
Encyclopedia
Bloody Monday was the name given the election
riots of August 6, 1855, in Louisville, Kentucky
. These riots grew out of the bitter rivalry between the Democrats
and supporters of the Know-Nothing Party
. Rumors were started that foreigners and Catholics
had interfered with the process of voting. A street fight occurred, twenty-two people were killed, scores were injured and much property was destroyed by fire.
Bloody Monday was sparked by the Know-Nothing political party (officially known as the American Party), an off shoot of the shattered Whig Party
and fed in large part by the radical, inflammatory anti-immigrant writings of the editor of the Louisville Journal, George D. Prentice
and others. Immigration from Ireland
and Germany
was changing the face of much of America and Louisville was no exception. By 1850, Louisville was the 10th largest city in the country and nearly 40% of its population was native born German. The rioters, led by Know-Nothing political figures who bolstered their ranks with paid thugs brought to Louisville for the express purpose of causing trouble, targeted Irish Catholics and Germans (primarily Catholics but Protestants and even German Jews were also caught up in the melee — the key being that they were German). By the time it was over, more than one-hundred businesses, private homes and tenements had been vandalized, looted and/or burned, including a block long row of houses known as Quinn's Row. Conservative estimates place the death toll at 22, while more realistic estimates, including those of Bishop Martin Spalding
of Louisville, placed the death toll at well over 100 with entire families consumed in the fires. Citizens were dragged from their homes, attacked on the streets and in their place of work. Weapons, arms and later bodies of the dead, were stored in Louisville Metro Hall
(the old Jefferson County Courthouse, now the Mayor’s Office), a Know-Nothing stronghold at the time. Sporadic violence and attacks had occurred in the year and months leading up to August 6 and continued for some time afterward.
Only by Louisville Mayor John Barbee
's intervention — himself a Know-Nothing — was the bloodshed and property destruction brought to an end, including his personal intervention that saved two Catholic churches, the new German parish of St. Martin of Tours and the Cathedral of the Assumption
from destruction by the mob. No one was ever prosecuted in connection with the riots. The legitimately elected Mayor of Louisville, James S. Speed
, had been ousted in June by a court order. Speed, who upon his marriage, had converted to Catholicism, left Louisville for Chicago
never to return.
The riots had a profound impact on immigration to Louisville, causing more than ten thousand citizens to pack and leave for good, most to St. Louis
, Chicago and Milwaukee
, and a large group who left in 1856 for Prairie City, Kansas
. Only the Civil War
, with the trade and commerce it represented, halted this trend. This reverse immigration caused dozens upon dozens of businesses to close, affecting the arts, education and charitable causes with the loss of members, money and brain-power (primarily from the German '48ers). Empty storefronts were the norm on once bustling commercial corridors and much of the destroyed and charred ruins lay untouched for years afterward as a silent reminder of that terrible day.
1855 also saw scattered violence in Chicago, St. Louis, Columbus
, Cincinnati
and New Orleans
. Within ten years, though, much had changed in the United States and Louisville. Immigrants brought new cultures and customs leaving their mark in this new land, and Louisville, site of the nation's worst anti-immigrant violence, elected a German born man, Philip Tomppert
as Mayor.
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
riots of August 6, 1855, in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. These riots grew out of the bitter rivalry between the Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and supporters of the Know-Nothing Party
Know Nothing
The Know Nothing was a movement by the nativist American political faction of the 1840s and 1850s. It was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholic immigrants, who were often regarded as hostile to Anglo-Saxon Protestant values and controlled by...
. Rumors were started that foreigners and Catholics
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
had interfered with the process of voting. A street fight occurred, twenty-two people were killed, scores were injured and much property was destroyed by fire.
Bloody Monday was sparked by the Know-Nothing political party (officially known as the American Party), an off shoot of the shattered Whig Party
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
and fed in large part by the radical, inflammatory anti-immigrant writings of the editor of the Louisville Journal, George D. Prentice
George D. Prentice
George Dennison Prentice was the editor of the Louisville Journal, which he built into a major newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky. He attracted readers by satire as well as exaggerated reporting and support of the Know-Nothing Party in the 1850s. His writing was said to contribute to rabid...
and others. Immigration from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
was changing the face of much of America and Louisville was no exception. By 1850, Louisville was the 10th largest city in the country and nearly 40% of its population was native born German. The rioters, led by Know-Nothing political figures who bolstered their ranks with paid thugs brought to Louisville for the express purpose of causing trouble, targeted Irish Catholics and Germans (primarily Catholics but Protestants and even German Jews were also caught up in the melee — the key being that they were German). By the time it was over, more than one-hundred businesses, private homes and tenements had been vandalized, looted and/or burned, including a block long row of houses known as Quinn's Row. Conservative estimates place the death toll at 22, while more realistic estimates, including those of Bishop Martin Spalding
Martin John Spalding
Martin John Spalding was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Louisville and Archbishop of Baltimore .-Early life and education:...
of Louisville, placed the death toll at well over 100 with entire families consumed in the fires. Citizens were dragged from their homes, attacked on the streets and in their place of work. Weapons, arms and later bodies of the dead, were stored in Louisville Metro Hall
Louisville Metro Hall
The Louisville Metro Hall, formerly the Jefferson County Courthouse or Louisville Courthouse, is the center of Louisville, Kentucky's government. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972...
(the old Jefferson County Courthouse, now the Mayor’s Office), a Know-Nothing stronghold at the time. Sporadic violence and attacks had occurred in the year and months leading up to August 6 and continued for some time afterward.
Only by Louisville Mayor John Barbee
John Barbee
John Barbee was the tenth Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1855 to 1857. He was born in Pewee Valley, Kentucky, and, after his parents died, moved to Louisville at age 14...
's intervention — himself a Know-Nothing — was the bloodshed and property destruction brought to an end, including his personal intervention that saved two Catholic churches, the new German parish of St. Martin of Tours and the Cathedral of the Assumption
Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville
The Cathedral of the Assumption is the cathedral mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. His Excellency, the Most Reverend Joseph Kurtz, D.D., the fourth and current Archbishop of Louisville, is in residence at the Cathedral. The Very Reverend Jeffery...
from destruction by the mob. No one was ever prosecuted in connection with the riots. The legitimately elected Mayor of Louisville, James S. Speed
James S. Speed
James Stephens Speed was the ninth Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky. His father, John Speed, moved to Jefferson County in about 1795 and established a farm on Salt River Rd. , about 9 miles south of Louisville...
, had been ousted in June by a court order. Speed, who upon his marriage, had converted to Catholicism, left Louisville for Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
never to return.
The riots had a profound impact on immigration to Louisville, causing more than ten thousand citizens to pack and leave for good, most to St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Chicago and Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, and a large group who left in 1856 for Prairie City, Kansas
Prairie City, Kansas
Prairie City was a town site in southeast Douglas County, Kansas near present-day Baldwin City.-History:Prairie City was founded in 1855 by James Lane, Dr. William Graham, I.F. Greene and Salmon S. Prouty after a dispute between Graham and Henry Barricklow of nearby Palmyra. A post office opened...
. Only the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, with the trade and commerce it represented, halted this trend. This reverse immigration caused dozens upon dozens of businesses to close, affecting the arts, education and charitable causes with the loss of members, money and brain-power (primarily from the German '48ers). Empty storefronts were the norm on once bustling commercial corridors and much of the destroyed and charred ruins lay untouched for years afterward as a silent reminder of that terrible day.
1855 also saw scattered violence in Chicago, St. Louis, Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
and New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. Within ten years, though, much had changed in the United States and Louisville. Immigrants brought new cultures and customs leaving their mark in this new land, and Louisville, site of the nation's worst anti-immigrant violence, elected a German born man, Philip Tomppert
Philip Tomppert
Philip Tomppert was the fifteenth and seventeenth Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky in 1865 and 1867 to 1868. He was born in Württemberg, Germany and immigrated to Wheeling, West Virginia in 1831, and moved to Louisville in 1837....
as Mayor.
See also
- History of Louisville, KentuckyHistory of Louisville, KentuckyThe history of Louisville, Kentucky spans hundreds of years, with thousands of years of human habitation. The area's geography and location on the Ohio River attracted people from the earliest times. The city is located at the Falls of the Ohio River...
- List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States
- List of riots
- Louisville riots of 1968Louisville riots of 1968The Louisville riots of 1968 refers to riots in Louisville, Kentucky in May 1968. As in many other cities around the country, there were unrest and riots partially in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. On May 27, 1968, a group of 400 people, mostly blacks, gathered at...
- Order of the Star-Spangled Banner
External links
- "Bloody Monday Riots: August 6, 1855" — Article by Civil War historian/author Bryan S. Bush