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| Mob of 1835 | |
|---|---|
| Name | Mob of 1835 |
| Date | 1835 |
| Location | New York City |
| Type | Riot |
| Cause | Nativist tensions, anti-abolitionist sentiment, anti-immigrant hostility |
| Fatalities | Unknown |
| Injuries | Unknown |
Mob of 1835 was a violent episode in 1835 in New York City that involved a large crowd attacking targets associated with abolitionism, Catholicism, and Irish Americans. The disturbance intersected with contemporary controversies surrounding figures such as William Lloyd Garrison, institutions like the New York Sun, and political factions including the Democratic Party (United States), the Tammany Hall, and emerging nativist movements. The event influenced debates in the United States over civil order, voting rights, and press freedom during the antebellum period.
Tensions preceding the riot involved clashes among actors such as William Lloyd Garrison, editors at the New York Herald, ministers in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and members of the Know Nothing milieu before that group's formal emergence. Immigrant influxes from Ireland following the early 19th-century migration wave, combined with the activities of abolitionists like Arthur Tappan and Lewis Tappan, escalated conflict with nativist leaders associated with Tammany Hall and the Working Men's Party. Legal controversies involving the New York City Police Department precursor institutions, magistrates from the Court of Common Pleas (New York), and militia units tied to the New York State Militia reflected broader disputes over public order and civic authority. Newspapers including the New York Sun, the New York Evening Post, and the Commercial Advertiser published incendiary reports that inflamed public opinion among readers influenced by personalities such as Horace Greeley, James Gordon Bennett Sr., and Benjamin Day.
The disturbance began near locations linked to abolitionist meetings at halls where figures like Frederick Douglass later spoke and venues frequented by Irish Republican Brotherhood sympathizers, although the specific sites were within the urban districts policed by magistrates tied to figures such as Richard Riker. Crowds attacked printing offices associated with publishers comparable to John Russell Young and assaulted properties connected to clergy from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and congregations led by pastors in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Militia detachments organized under officers with affiliations to the New York State Legislature and lawmen influenced by Samuel Swartwout or municipal officials attempted crowd control, but confrontations spread to neighborhoods represented in the United States House of Representatives by delegates with varying stances on abolition and immigration. The sequence of events involved street battles, property destruction, and targeted violence paralleling earlier riots such as the 1826 Philadelphia Nativist Riots and precedents like the 1834 Ursuline Convent riots.
Participants included nativist activists whose networks intersected with leaders from groups antecedent to the American Republican Party (1843) and local operatives of Tammany Hall such as ward bosses and street captains. Prominent antagonists cited in contemporary accounts included journalists and editors from newspapers like the New York Herald and the New York Sun, as well as merchants and artisans associated with the Mechanics' Institute and labor advocates of the Working Men's Party. Religious leaders from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and Protestant ministers in the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America were direct targets, while abolitionists including members of the American Anti-Slavery Society sought refuge or mobilized sympathetic allies. Political figures from the New York City Council, state legislators in the New York State Assembly, and national actors in the United States Senate debated culpability and responses.
The riot had immediate effects on civic institutions such as municipal printing presses, parish properties under the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, and meetinghouses used by activists linked to the American Anti-Slavery Society. Press coverage by outlets including the New York Tribune, the Albany Evening Journal, and the Brooklyn Eagle shaped public reactions nationwide, prompting commentary from statesmen in the United States Congress and editorialists like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller. The disturbances influenced electoral contests within New York (state) politics, affected patronage networks around Tammany Hall, and contributed to legislative initiatives addressing policing and public order debated in the New York State Legislature and municipal bodies.
Prosecutions and municipal inquiries engaged legal authorities from tribunals such as the New York Court of General Sessions and the New York Supreme Court. Political fallout implicated officeholders in the Mayor of New York City's administration and state executives like the Governor of New York (state), prompting reform proposals tied to policing reforms later associated with entities like the New York City Police Department. Civil liberties discussions invoked legal thinkers and pamphleteers connected to Alexander Hamilton's legacy in Federalist Papers-era jurisprudence and informed later cases in federal courts overseen by judges appointed by presidents such as Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.
Historians have situated the riot within broader narratives that include studies of nativism in the United States, the rise of the Know Nothing movement, and scholarship on antebellum urban violence by academics in programs at institutions like Columbia University, New York University, and Rutgers University. Interpretations reference comparative events including the 1837 Flour Riot and later episodes like the Draft Riots of 1863, and engage historians such as Jill Lepore, Eric Foner, and Ira Berlin in debates over causes and significance. The episode remains a touchstone in discussions about press freedom, immigrant integration, and civil order in American urban history.
Category:Riots and civil disorder in New York City Category:1835 in the United States