Philadelphia Nativist Riots - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Philadelphia Nativist Riots (also known as the Philadelphia Prayer Riots, the Bible Riots and the Native American Riots) were a series of riots that took place between May 6 and 8 and July 6 and 7, 1844, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, United States, and the adjacent districts of Kensington

Kensington District, Pennsylvania

Kensington District, or The Kensington District of the Northern Liberties, was one of the twenty-nine municipalities that formed Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania prior to the enactment of the Act of Consolidation, 1854, when it became incorporated into the newly expanded City of Philadelphia...

and Southwark

Southwark, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Southwark was originally the Southwark District, a colonial era municipality in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Today, it is a neighborhood in the South Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

. The riots were a result of rising anti-Catholic

Anti-Catholicism

Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed against Catholicism, and especially against the Catholic Church, its clergy or its adherents...

sentiment at the growing population of Irish Catholic

Irish Catholic

Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...

immigrants.

In the months prior to the riots, nativist

Nativism (politics)

Nativism favors the interests of certain established inhabitants of an area or nation as compared to claims of newcomers or immigrants. It may also include the re-establishment or perpetuation of such individuals or their culture....

groups had been spreading a rumor that 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...

were trying to remove the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

from public schools. A nativist rally in Kensington erupted in violence on May 6 and started a deadly riot that would result in the destruction of two Catholic churches and numerous other buildings. Riots erupted again in July, after it was discovered that St. Philip Neri's Catholic Church in Southwark had armed itself for protection. Fierce fighting broke out between the nativists and the soldiers sent to protect the church, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries.

Nationally, the riots helped fuel criticism of the nativist movement, despite denials from nativist groups of responsibility. The riots also made the deficiencies in law enforcement in Philadelphia and the surrounding districts readily apparent, influencing various reforms in local police departments and the eventual consolidation of the city in 1854

Act of Consolidation, 1854

The Act of Consolidation, more formally known as the act of February 2, 1854 , was enacted by General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and approved February 2, 1854 by Governor William Bigler...

Background

As Philadelphia became industrialized, immigrants from England, Ireland, and Germany settled in the city and the surrounding districts. Once it began, the potato famine increased immigration from Ireland, although this largely occurred after the Philadelphia riots. In the areas the immigrants settled, tensions that resulted from religious, economic and cultural differences grew between residents. The majority of immigrants coming to Philadelphia were Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

. Alarmed by the rising Catholic population, Protestant Irish and native-born Americans started organizing anti-Catholic

Anti-Catholicism

Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed against Catholicism, and especially against the Catholic Church, its clergy or its adherents...

and nativist

Nativism (politics)

groups. The groups, many of which were established in the early 1840s, distributed anti-Catholic literature or published anti-Catholic newspapers.

During the 1840s, students in Philadelphia schools began the day with reading the Protestant version

King James Version of the Bible

The Authorized Version, commonly known as the King James Version, King James Bible or KJV, is an English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611...

of the Bible. On November 10, 1842, Philadelphia's Roman Catholic Bishop, Francis Kenrick

Francis Kenrick

Francis Patrick Kenrick was an Irish-born clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the third Bishop of Philadelphia and the sixth Archbishop of Baltimore .-Early life and education:...

, wrote a letter to the Board of Controllers of public schools, asking that Catholic children be allowed to read the Douai version of the Bible, used by Roman Catholics. He also asked that they be excused from other religious teaching while at school. As a result, the Board of Controllers ordered that no child should be forced to participate in religious activities and stated that children were allowed whichever version of the Bible their parents wished.

Approximately one year later, a rumor was circulated that Hugh Clark, a Kensington

Kensington District, Pennsylvania

school director who was Catholic, was visiting a girls school, where he demanded that the principal stop Bible reading in school. The story also claimed that the principal refused and that she would rather lose her job. Hugh Clark denied this version of events and claimed that after finding out several students had left a Bible reading to read a different version of the Bible, he commented that if reading the Bible caused this kind of confusion, that it would be better if it was not read. Anti-Catholics used the story to spur anti-Catholic sentiments by claiming that Catholics, with direct influence from the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

, were trying to remove the Bible from schools. Anti-Catholic and nativist groups further inflamed hostile feelings towards Catholics by twisting Bishop Kenrick's requests to the Board of Controllers into an attack against the Bible.

May riot

On May 3, 1844, the American Republican Party

American Republican Party

The American Republican Party was a minor nativist political organization that was launched in New York in June 1843, largely as a protest against immigrant voters and officeholders. In 1844, it carried municipal elections in New York City and Philadelphia and expanded so rapidly that by July,...

, a Protestant nativist group, held a meeting in a predominantly Irish part of the Kensington District

Kensington District, Pennsylvania

, then a suburb of Philadelphia. A group of Irish residents attacked the platform where the speakers were standing, and the nativists retreated. On May 6, the nativists returned in much greater numbers. During the rally, it began to rain, and the meeting was moved into a nearby market

Market

A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...

. The inflammatory remarks continued inside the market, where fighting broke out between the local Irish Catholic

Irish Catholic

s and the nativists. The fighting spilled outside the market, where the nativists were shot at by people in the windows of nearby buildings; one or two of the nativists were killed. The mob of nativists attacked the Seminary of the Sisters of Charity and several Catholic homes before the riot was over. Numerous people were injured, and two more nativists were killed.

The district constable was powerless to stop the violence. In the 1840s, most suburban districts of Philadelphia were policed by elected constables and part-time watchmen. When violence erupted in a district, the time-consuming process involved the constable summoning the county sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

, who would organize a posse. During the May 6 violence, the posse arrived armed only with clubs and was powerless to do anything.

On May 7, the nativist groups denounced the Catholics and called on Americans to defend themselves from "the bloody hand of the Pope." A mob marched to Kensington, where gunfire broke out between the nativists and Catholic residents. During the riot, the nativist mob set fire to and destroyed the Hibernia fire station, thirty homes and the market where the violence started the day before. The violence did not end until the local militia

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

, commanded by General George Cadwalader

George Cadwalader

George Cadwalader was a general in the United States Army during the Mexican-American War and American Civil War.-Biography:He was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, studied law, and was admitted to the bar...

, arrived and dispersed the crowd. Bishop Francis Kenrick quickly issued a statement that instructed all Catholics to avoid violence and confrontations.

After a brief lull, the violence continued on May 8. The nativists came back to Kensington and burned down St. Michael's Catholic Church and rectory at Second and Jefferson Streets, the Seminary of the Sisters of Charity, which had been attacked a few days before, and several homes before soldiers arrived and the fire was contained. While the riot was being contained in Kensington, another nativist mob had gathered within the borders of Philadelphia itself. They gathered at St. Augustine's Catholic Church

St. Augustine Church, Philadelphia

St. Augustine Catholic Church, also called Olde St. Augustine's, is a historic Catholic church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Consecrated in 1848, the Palladian-style church was designed by Napoleon LeBrun. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.The church was...

, located on Fourth Street between Vine and New Streets. The city troop was stationed by the church, and Mayor John Morin Scott pleaded for calm. The rioters threw stones at the mayor, ignored the troops and burned down the church, cheering when the steeple

Steeple (architecture)

A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, often topped by a spire. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure...

fell. A nearby school with a collection of rare books was also set aflame. The rioters did not attack an unfinished German Catholic church under construction. During the riots, at least fourteen were killed, an estimated fifty people were injured, two hundred fled their homes, and damage totaled $150,000. This is equivalent to $ in present-day terms.

In the days afterward, Mayor Scott set up a force to protect Catholic churches, and Bishop Kenrick ordered all churches to be closed the following Sunday to avoid any provocation and possible violence. Valuables were removed from the churches and hidden in homes for safekeeping. Bishop Kenrick asked Catholics to offer no resistance and urged them to wait for the law to deal with the rioters. However, in its June 18 report, a grand jury

Grand jury

A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...

blamed an imperfect response by law enforcement and the Irish Catholics for the riots, stating that the outbreak of violence was due to "the efforts of a portion of the community to exclude the Bible from the public schools" and the disruption of legitimate meetings by immigrants. Nativists said they were only responding to being attacked and were justified in their actions but were not responsible for the riots after May 6. The American Republican Party issued a statement blaming Mayor Scott, the sheriff, and the civil authorities for the riots.

July riot

On July 3, Father John Patrick Dunn of the Church of St. Philip Neri in the Southwark District

Southwark, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

was warned in advance of a planned parade by the Native American 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...

that the church might be attacked. The Native American Party, a nativist political party similar to the American Republican Party, planned to hold a large parade the next day on Independence Day

Independence Day (United States)

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...

.

To prepare in the case of violence, the church applied for an arsenal

Arsenal

An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...

that a volunteer company would use in case the church was attacked. Pennsylvania Governor David R. Porter

David R. Porter

David Rittenhouse Porter was the ninth Governor of Pennsylvania. He served from 1839 to 1845.-Life:Porter, the first governor under the State Constitution of 1838 was born October 31, 1788, near Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania spending his boyhood at Selma Mansion, a home built by his...

authorized the formation of a company and the procurement of twenty-five musket

Musket

A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....

s from the Frankford Arsenal

Frankford Arsenal

The Frankford Arsenal was a United States Army ammunition plant located adjacent to the Bridesburg neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, north of the original course of Frankford Creek.-History:...

. Major General Robert Patterson

Robert Patterson

Robert Patterson was a United States major general during the Mexican-American War and at the beginning of the American Civil War...

, commander of the Pennsylvania militia, put the troops on alert in case of violence.

Five of the muskets placed in St. Philip Neri's Church were discovered to be defective and were sent back to the Frankford Arsenal to be repaired. There was no violence before or during the parade, but on July 5, a nativist mob numbering in the thousands gathered at the church after a few local nativists saw the five defective muskets being returned to the church. The nativists demanded that the sheriff remove the weapons, while Father Dunn and volunteers rallied to protect the church. The sheriff and two aldermen

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

searched the church and removed twelve muskets. After leaving the church, the sheriff urged the crowd to disperse and left a volunteer posse to guard the church. The mob remained, and a man who was injured in the May riots made a speech to the crowd, calling for a second search of the church. The sheriff, an alderman, and seventeen nativists went inside the church and found three armed men, fifty-three muskets, ten pistols

Handgun

A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....

, a keg of gunpowder

Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

and ammunition. To avoid inciting the mob, the sheriff decided not to remove the armaments, and the search party stayed in the church. Just after midnight, July 6, Major General Patterson ordered a company of city guards to clear the streets. After the crowd dispersed, the arms found within the church were removed.

By midday, the crowds returned around St. Philip Neri's Church. General George Cadwalader ordered the crowds to disperse, but they did not. By the evening, the sheriff had arrived with a 150-strong posse. Throughout the evening, the military presence grew, and three cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

s were stationed on the streets. The soldiers cleared the streets near the church, despite being pelted with rocks by the mob. In response to the rock throwers, General Cadwalader ordered a cannon to be fired at the crowd on Third Street. A man named Charles Naylor begged the general not to fire, and he and several others were arrested and held within the church. By the morning of July 7, most of the soldiers had left, but the crowds returned, being led by an alderman and the sheriff, and demanded that the remaining guard release Naylor. Everyone except Naylor was released. The crowds grew, and a cannon was brought from a nearby wharf

Wharf

A wharf or quay is a structure on the shore of a harbor where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.Such a structure includes one or more berths , and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships.A wharf commonly comprises a fixed...

and used to threaten the church. After further negotiations, Naylor was released and carried home to cheers on people's shoulders.

After Naylor was brought home, the mob attacked the church, damaging a wall with the cannon. A second cannon was brought from the wharfs and fired at the church, after which the mob pelted the building with rocks and broke in through a side door. The soldiers fired on the men breaking into the church, who promptly retreated. After retreating, the nativists negotiated with the guard, who agreed to withdraw, allowing the nativists to guard the church. Responding to being pelted with rocks as they left, some soldiers fired back on the crowd, which only incited the mob further. The mob forced its way into the church, causing extensive damage to the interior. After about an hour, a group of twenty men organized themselves to guard St. Philip Neri's, and the mob left the church.

By the evening, a large number of soldiers arrived with orders to clear the streets, only to be stoned in the process. After a captain was attacked, the order was given to fire on the mob, which resulted in seven people being killed and nine people being wounded. Not long after, people with muskets and cannons arrived, and fierce fighting broke out between the soldiers and the mob. The fighting lasted for several hours, with the soldiers being fired upon from alleyways and the windows of nearby buildings. The soldiers brought in two cannons of their own and fired on the mob; the mob returned fire using their own cannons, armed with items such as nails, chains, knives and broken bottles. In an attempt to capture the mob's cannons, soldiers charged one cannon's position, only to be knocked off their horses by a rope tied across the street. The cannons were all eventually captured, and by early morning on July 8, the fighting had ended.

At least fifteen people, including both rioters and soldiers, were killed in the riot, and at least fifty people were injured. Under Governor Porter's orders, state troops continued to arrive in the city in the days afterwards, but there was no further violence. An estimated 5,000 militia were used to stop violence. Troops began to withdraw from the city on July 10, and the church took over responsibility from the district of Southwark of protecting the church on July 11. As with the May riots, a grand jury blamed the Irish Catholics for the riots, but supported the military's response to the violence.

Aftermath

The riots had gained national attention and condemnation. The riots were used as an issue in the 1844 U.S. Presidential election

United States presidential election, 1844

In the United States presidential election of 1844, Democrat James K. Polk defeated Whig Henry Clay in a close contest that turned on foreign policy, with Polk favoring the annexation of Texas and Clay opposed....

, the Democratic Party

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...

condemning the growing Native American Party and the 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...

, which the Democrats accused of being involved in the nativist movement. In Philadelphia, the Native American Party ended up making a strong showing in the city's October election. In New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, there were fears nativists would target New York City's Catholic churches. Archbishop John Hughes

John Hughes (archbishop)

John Joseph Hughes , was an Irish-born clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the fourth Bishop and first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, serving between 1842 and his death in 1864....

organized defenders for the churches and told the mayor that if any churches were burned, "New York would be another Moscow."

On July 11, 1844, Philadelphia passed an ordinance that gave the city a battalion

Battalion

A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

of artillery, a regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

of infantry and at least one full troop of cavalry for the purpose of providing the preservation of peace within the city when necessary. The difficulty of quelling the riots and other crime led to the Pennsylvania General Assembly

Pennsylvania General Assembly

The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times , the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. Since the Constitution of 1776, written by...

to pass an 1845 act that required Philadelphia, the township of Moyamensing

Moyamensing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Moyamensing was originally a township on the fast land of the Neck, lying between Passyunk and Wicaco. It was incorporated into the Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania and is today primarily a neighborhood in the South Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.-History:The...

and the unincorporated districts of Spring Garden

Spring Garden District, Pennsylvania

Spring Garden District is a defunct district that was located in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. The district ceased to exist and was incorporated into the City of Philadelphia following the passage of the Act of Consolidation, 1854. It corresponds largely with today's Spring Garden neighborhood...

, Northern Liberties

Northern Liberties, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

-Boundaries:Northern Liberties is located north of Center City and is bordered by Girard Avenue to the north; Callowhill Street to the south; North 6th Street to the west; and the Delaware River to the east...

, and Penn

Penn District, Pennsylvania

Penn District is a defunct district that was located in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. The district ceased to exist and was incorporated into the City of Philadelphia following the passage of the Act of Consolidation, 1854.-History:...

to maintain a police force of one man per 150 taxable inhabitants. In 1850, another act was passed that established that the Philadelphia police force

Philadelphia Police Department

The Philadelphia Police Department is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

would police the city and seven surrounding districts. The inability to maintain order effectively in Philadelphia's suburbs would be an important argument for the consolidation of the city in 1854

Act of Consolidation, 1854

.

After the riots, Bishop Kenrick ended his efforts to influence the public education system and began encouraging the creation of Catholic schools, with 17 being founded by 1860. The friar

Friar

A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...

s of the Church of St. Augustine sued the city of Philadelphia for not providing the church with adequate protection, claiming $80,000 in damages. The city argued that the friars could not claim their civil rights were violated, as the Order of St. Augustine

Augustinians

The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...

was a foreign organization under the Pope. Furthermore, the city argued that the friars took a vow of poverty and could not be property owners. The Augustinians ended up proving the Order was incorporated in 1804 and was awarded $45,000. The church was rebuilt in 1848.

Casualties {military}

2 killed; 1 died; 23 wounded

Causality of May 1844 Kensington Riot:

{State Fencibles}: 2nd Lt. John S. Dutton {was also Adjutant 1st Regiment of City Volunteers} died May 4, 1844, of typhoid and inflammation of the lungs from exposure

Casualties of June 1844 riot: {Wounded unless otherwise noted as killed}

{Germantown Blues}; Lt. William L. Cox; Corporal Troutman {killed}; Pvt. Ashworth; Pvt. Ent; Pvt. John Guyer {killed}; Pvt. Osborne

{Washington Artillery}: Col. A.J. Pleasonton; Capt. R.K. Scott; Pvt. Crawford {Lost an arm}

{Cadwalader Grays}: Sgt. Starr

{Philadelphia Grays}: Pvt. James Schreiner; Pvt. James Woodlrige

{State Fencibles}: Sgt. Thomas Marston; Pvt. Jos. Hesser

{Wayne Artillery}: Pvt. R.G. Bull; Pvt. C. Dougherty; Pvt. S.F. Williams

{City Guards}: Capt. Hill; Corporal Russell; Pvt. S. Morrison; Pvt. Henry Myers

{Washington Cavalry}: Sgt. Wagner; Corporal Verrig; Pvt. Charles Livezey; Pvt. Charles Williams

External links

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Background

May riot

July riot

Aftermath

Casualties {military}

See also

Further reading

External links