Bleeding Florida: An Alternate History
- Thread starter Pellegrino
- Start date
Poor Fernando Wood, he cant keep control of his own city let alone get it to succeed from the Union. Looking forward to seeing how the *Communists get out of this mess.
Poor Fernando Wood? Ha maybe the communists can make a nice bonfire of Tamamy Hall before they leave
Chapter Four: A Pox on Both Your Houses
As thousands of Irish-Americans fled the rapid counter attack from the predominantly German communists during the Five Points Riots of 1853, Mayor Wood in desperation attempted to dispatch the 69th Regiment of the New York state Militia. The “Fighting 69th” was made up almost entirely of Irish immigrants and their company commander, Michael Doheny, was eager to go in and stop the communists. Although distrustful of both Wood and the Dead Rabbits, Doheny was a veteran of the failed young Irelander Rebellion of 1848 and felt that the mission went beyond politics. After the embarrassing “cowardice” of the Dead Rabbits, Doheny felt that the 69th had to “restore some Irish pride.” Doheny was eager to show the communists, and in particular the unabashedly ethnocentric Engels, that the Irish had a fighting spirit that the communists had yet to encounter. But to the disappointment of both Wood and Doheny, more rational heads prevailed. As south Manhattan found themselves overrun with frightened (and impoverished) Irish immigrants, many of the wealthy New Yorkers who made the southern tip of the city their hub became deeply frightened of the growing communists force just a few thousand feet to the north. Losing faith in their mayor, and never having faith in the Irish regime of the state militia, they soon called out to the one man who had never hid his distain for both Mayor Wood or the influx of immigrants to New York: New York Governor Washington Hunt.
Although Hunt initially was seen as an ally to the Prussian and English immigrant community (reserving his anti-immigrant sentiments towards those from catholic Ireland and the catholic regions of Germany) Hunt quickly switched gears after winning by the slimmest of margins in 1852. Defeating Democrat Horatio Seymour by less than 300 total votes, Hunt immediately began to move closer to the growing nativist movement. He also began to view the communists as “just as dangerous to the American people as the Catholics,” even going so far as to say “a pox on both your houses” when he met with local communist leaders just a few weeks after his election. Despite the fact that his reelection was owed in large part to the vote of German and English immigrants (most of whom were communists and shared no ideological affiliation with Hunt), the Governor shocked the German community when his first official act as Governor was to push for the passage of the notorious “Irish and Communist exclusion Act.” The Act was an almost word for work rewrite of a handful of several racist “Anti-Coolie” laws that had just been passed in California (in fact, in one of the early drafts, the word “Coolie” was erroneously left in the proposed bill.) The anti-Coolie laws had proved a boon for California Democrats, and Hunt saw the idea of replicating the bill as a way to seize a sizable portion of Democratic supporters. Recognizing that the communists Germans would never support him or the Whigs, he instead moved to break the back of the Democratic Party in New York: and his first target was to destroy the Democratic hold over New York City.
Hunt recognized that the 69th Regiment would only provoke the communists, and he also recognized that if they failed to dislodge the communists the entire city could be lost to them. He also recognized that due to Wood’s mismanagement of the crisis that New York City, and perhaps more importantly the wealthy merchants of New York City, were abandoning the Democratic Party. He could emerge as the man who restored order and ended the riots, something that would politically destroy Wood and the Democrats. If the 71st Militia, a militia that held nativist loyalties, were to succeed, he could turn the entire city into supporters of his growing movement: the Know Nothings.
May 10, 1853: South Street Docks, New York City, New York
Walt Whitman tried to hold the young boy back as he cursed at the militiamen who surrounded the docks. The boy had learned a few more words of English since he had been bandaged up during the riots, but few of the new words were fit to be repeated in front of a gentile audience.
“You shall all disperse!” the Captain said forcefully as the angry mob of Germans and Irishmen screamed profanities at the soldiers. “by order of the Governor of the state of New York…the South Street docks will no longer be allowing any immigrants to disembark. Your family members will have to find some other place to disembark.”
The seizure of the South Street docks was the final insult, and had the curious effect of easing tensions between the Irish and the German immigrant communities. They now saw themselves as victims of a much larger enemy: the Know Nothings.
“Sir,” Whitman screamed in response, “this action is unconstitutional! It is abhorrent! These men have paid your tax! They have also paid Mr. Westervelt what little money they had left to secure passage for their families to come here to this country! Have mercy good sir! You cannot rob men of their dignity like this!”
The Capitan remained unmoved as he glared at Whitman.
“Sir, there will be no more Irishmen or Germans coming to New York. Not now. Not ever. The bill is passed. Governor Hunt has had enough of this rabble, and to be quite frank sir, so have I. Now tell these pigs to disperse of we will have them moved for them.
“Where shall they go?” Whitman asked.
“Out of New York would be my suggestion. Out of the country would be better, but I would be mollified with you leaving this state. Go somewhere with free land where you can kill each other like the animals you are.”
Whitman turned to the angry crowd, knowing that a fight was imminent. It was the last thing they needed. It would be seized by the Know Nothings as proof that they could never be assimilated into the nation. It would be used as proof that they were a dangerous group of criminals who should be expelled. It would destroy them…all of them. And yet he saw something in the eyes of the Irish and Germans who just two months ago were looking to destroy each other with a deep hatred that seemed unable to be erased. But here they were, together, standing together as one.
“Workers of the world,” Whitman mumbled under his breath as a group of Irish and Prussian men spontaneously rushed the barricade, “unite!”
I just want to remind you that Engels was the man who said that "there are two nations in Europe which do not only have the right but the duty to be nationalistic before they become internationalists: the Irish and the Poles.". Engels might have harbored anglo- centric thoughts, but they were overshadowed by his admiration for the struggle of the Irish.
Engels had many views on race that were, quite frankly, troubling even considering the era he lived in. But I do agree that by in large, his views on the Irish were more complex than say his views on the Slavs (which were actually quite frightening). Engels said of the Irish that they were "carefree, cheerful, potato-eating child of nature" before adding that they were unable to deal with the "mechanical, egoistic, ice-cold hurly-burly of the English factory town." (MECW, vol. 3, page 390). He also embraced a very Victorian stereotype of the Irish as drunkards. "The southern facile character of the Irishman, his crudity, which places him little above the savage, his contempt for all humane enjoyments...his filth and poverty, all favor drunkenness." (Condition of the Working Class, Page 125).
What was noteworthy of these quotes is that they came after the Irish proved how valuable they were to the Chartist movement. But with that being said, Engels also did show admiration for the Irish (and admiration for the American slave), so I can see his views on the Irish becoming more complex as he soon recognizes how valuable they are to the anti-Know Nothing movement that is targeting both groups.
And so the Know-Nothing's manage to bind two groups together through intolerance and ignorance! The exodus begins!
Good job!
Good job!
TFSmith121
Banned
The 69th and 71st NYSM were regiments; there's also a reason
The 69th and 71st NYSM were regiments; the NY State Militia included them both and several score others, numbered (more or less) sequentially. There's also a reason the numbers of the 69th and 71st were so high...
Here's a link:
https://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/civil_infIndex.htm
The "New York National Guard" regiments of the Civil War included, essentially, the prewar militia regiments; the regiments without that designation listed by DMNA were the Civil War volunteer (federal) units, although some had institutional or organizational links with the militia units (sometimes the numbers were carried over to the volunteers, sometimes not).
The NYSM unit in the city most often called out for aid to the civil power missions in the 1850s and 1860s was the 7th, actually, and for obvious reasons - it was the unit with the wealthiest members, and so had the best equipment and armory, as well as the strongest ties to the political elite of NY, in Albany and the City.
Best,
The 69th and 71st NYSM were regiments; the NY State Militia included them both and several score others, numbered (more or less) sequentially. There's also a reason the numbers of the 69th and 71st were so high...
Here's a link:
https://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/civil_infIndex.htm
The "New York National Guard" regiments of the Civil War included, essentially, the prewar militia regiments; the regiments without that designation listed by DMNA were the Civil War volunteer (federal) units, although some had institutional or organizational links with the militia units (sometimes the numbers were carried over to the volunteers, sometimes not).
The NYSM unit in the city most often called out for aid to the civil power missions in the 1850s and 1860s was the 7th, actually, and for obvious reasons - it was the unit with the wealthiest members, and so had the best equipment and armory, as well as the strongest ties to the political elite of NY, in Albany and the City.
Best,
Last edited:
TFSmith121
Banned
The Commune didn't appeal to the middle class; they backed
The Commune didn't appeal to the middle class; they backed Thiers, generally, once the Bonapartes were out of the picture.
Best,
The Commune didn't appeal to the middle class; they backed Thiers, generally, once the Bonapartes were out of the picture.
Best,
Good info TF! Thanks! I picked the 69th and 71st since they both were based in NY and they both had, ehm, political ties. But I didn't consider the 7th. They clearly would play a role as well.
TFSmith121
Banned
Probably - I meant Thiers:
Probably - I meant Thiers:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/592074/Adolphe-Thiers
Best,
Probably - I meant Thiers:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/592074/Adolphe-Thiers
Best,
TFSmith121
Banned
Well, my point was more, don't forget ALL the
Well, my point was don't forget ALL the NYSM, which numbered in the tens of thousands (some with better records han others, of course) in the 1850s...
Best,
Well, my point was don't forget ALL the NYSM, which numbered in the tens of thousands (some with better records han others, of course) in the 1850s...
Best,
TFSmith121
Banned
No problem
No problem. Thiers was pretty much the definition of conservative republicanism, and was the accepted leader of the middle class and above in 1871.
Best,
No problem. Thiers was pretty much the definition of conservative republicanism, and was the accepted leader of the middle class and above in 1871.
Best,