Gangs Of The Five Points example essay topic

The movie begins in New York, in 1843, with a gang fight. Bill "the butcher" Cutting's gang of "nativists" have challenged the "dead rabbits" (a gang of mostly Irish immigrants) to a fight to settle once and for all who is the most powerful gang in the area. After an intense battle the "nativists" win by killing the leader of the "dead rabbits", also Amsterdam's (the main character's) father. Amsterdam is then led into an orphanage where he grows to be a man, all while Bill Cutting runs the Five Points, and most of New York. The Five Points is a district of New York City and obviously the most corrupt.

Crime is all to common, and sickness runs rampant in the area. Although very underdeveloped, Amsterdam has sworn to revenge his father's death and kill Bill "the Butcher". When Amsterdam leaves he immediately sets his plan in motion. He begins by getting on Cutting's good side, and eventually becoming somewhat of an apprentice to the crime lord.

During this time Amsterdam learns the ways of corruption. To keep above the law Bill Cutting becomes partners with William Tweed, arguably the most corrupt politician of all time. Bill gives Tweed the Irish immigrant vote, and Boss Tweed keeps Cutting "high and dry". Two subplots develop in the movie also.

First, a love story, between Amsterdam and Jenny Ever deane. A pickpocket by trade Jenny first steals Amsterdam's necklace. Because the necklace has much sentimental value, he tracks her down and gets it back, he also gets the girl. Second, the Draft Riots of 1863.

The riots began because of the draft, instated because of the Civil War. The public was furious that you could buy your way out for 300 dollars. Also because of the corruption surrounding the draft. It was easy to get sucked into the draft if you were poor or underprivileged and it was easy to get out of the draft if you were wealthy (you could buy your way out for 300 dollars.) In the end Amsterdam reinvents the "dead rabbits" and schedules a fight with the "nativists" once again.

It just so happens that the day they schedule the fight is the day the Draft Riots begin. The Union Army marches on the city and the Union Navy shells the Five Points, the epicenter of the riots. The Union soldiers end up killing most of the gang members, but Amsterdam succeeds in revenging his father. The movie has so many scenes (it's two hours and forty-five minutes long) it's hard to pick a favorite. If I had to it would be the ending scene though, where the Draft Riots are in full force and finally Amsterdam and Jenny visit the graves of Bill Cutting and Amsterdam's father, followed by a time laps scene of the graveyard and the New York City skyline. The ending scene is important because it puts the whole movie into perspective.

You get so caught up in the fighting, and crime that you forget the big picture. With the Union Army's actions it shows how weak and ridiculous the gangs in New York were. Simply, gangs were (and to some extent still are) nothing but a certain demographic joining in large numbers only to force their ideas on the majority. The scene also touches on the fact that presently no one remembers or cares about the gangs or the riots, furthering the idea of the pointlessness of it. Historically speaking, the movie relates the United States history poorly. It has many accuracies historically, but the problems far outweigh them.

First though, the accuracies. The movie depicts the Five Points in New York as being poor, pestilent, and ugly. This is true to history. The district was doomed to slum hood from the beginning. It was erected on the filled-in Collect Pond, which was 60 feet deep and covered what would become four city blocks.

In 1802, the city organized the adjacent Bunker Hill, to be leveled into Collect Pond. The job was finished in 1813. The houses were built cheaply while the land remained marshy, and dense with mosquito's. When the Irish began flocking to New York during their potato famine they needed cheap shelters and the Five Points was just the place. Also, the corrupt politicians in New York was a reality. Boss Tweed was running a political machine, and the public were the ones getting the raw deal.

In a famous series of newspaper interviews George Plunkett explains the difference between "honest graft" and "dishonest graft."Everybody is talking' these days about Tammany men grow in' richer on graft, but nobody thinks of drawing' the distinction between honest graft and dishonest graft. There's all the difference in the world between the two. Yes, many of our men have grown rich in politics. I have myself. I've made a big fortune out fo the game, and I'm gett in' richer every day, but I've not gone in for dishonest graft -- blackmail in' gamblers, saloon keepers, disorderly people, etc. -- and neither has any of the men who have made big fortunes in politics". (taken from the American Pageant) Second, the inaccuracies. Bill the Butcher a "die hard" nativist, has his headquarters in the Five Points.

This is ridiculous. By the 1860's the Five Points were constructed as a fortress to ward off the nativists. Any Know Nothing who would try to live in the Five Points wouldn't have lasted an hour. Also, the movie shows knives as being the weapon of choice in skirmishes during this time. Historian Adrian Cook did a study on the cause of death in the Draft Riots and out of the 106 injured or killed policemen, only six were stabbed. Of the 128 citizens, only one was reported as being stabbed.

The film also shows East Asian people living in the Five Points. The Chinese didn't begin moving to the U.S. until the transcontinental railroad, in the 1890's. Finally, the Union Navy was ported in New York but never fired a round, as in the movie. Also, the Five Points were not the epicenter of the riots, in fact they were the opposite. William Tweed worked diligently to keep the peace in the area, and only three counts of murder and looting were reported over the four days the riots took place. I can only hope that this movie inspires viewers to discover the actual history.

It's extremely interesting stuff. The gangs of the Five Points established the model for the alliance of Irishmen, Jews, and Italians who created the more commonly known mobs during the 1920's and prohibition. A path was established between the Dead Rabbits, the Plug Uglier, the Bowery B'hoys that continues today with the Latin Kings, the Crips, and the Bloods. The true tale is a gruesome part of history, but an essential part none the less.