The Bowery Boys: Street Corner Radicals and the Politics of Rebellion
- ISBN-10
- 0275985385
- ISBN-13
- 9780275985387
- Category
- Gangs
- Pages
- 216
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2005
- Publisher
- Greenwood Publishing Group
- Author
- Peter Adams
Description
In the decades before the Civil War, the miserable living conditions of New York City's lower east side nurtured the gangs of New York. This book tells the story of the Bowery Boys, one gang that emerged as part urban legend and part street fighters for the city's legions of young workers. Poverty and despair led to a gang culture that was easily politicized, especially under the leadership of Mike Walsh who led a distinct faction of the Bowery Boys that engaged in the violent, almost anarchic, politics of the city during the 1840s and 1850s. Amid the toppled ballot boxes and battles for supremacy on the streets, many New Yorkers feared Walsh's gang was at the frontline of a European-style revolution. A radical and immensely popular voice in antebellum New York, Walsh spoke in the unvarnished language of class conflict. Admired by Walt Whitman and feared by Tammany Hall, Walsh was an original, wildly unstable character who directed his aptly named Spartan Band against the economic and political elite of New York City and New England. As a labor organizer, state legislator, and even U.S. Congressman, the leader of the Bowery Boys fought for shorter working hours, the right to strike, free land for settlers on the American frontier, against child labor, and to restore dignity to the city's growing number of industrial workers.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2005-03-30
- 192 pages
- Ebook
- Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Similar books
-
Brothers in Arms
By Paul Langan, Ben AlirezAfter his little brother is shot and killed, Martin Luna struggles between staying out of trouble and avenging his brother.
-
Ways to Be Wicked
By Jim ChristWays to be Wicked is a suspense-filled mystery and crime drama, but it is a great deal more. This is a novel of almost ineluctable seductions, tests of loyalty and dangerous friendships.
-
Escaping the Triad
By Jeremy GaddEscaping the Triad
-
Babylon Blues
By Rock NeellyFollowing up on his highly acclaimed "Purple Heart Detective" series, Neelly has penned a series of short stories that not only fill in gaps on some of the series' already well-defined characters, but also stand on their own as yarns worthy ...
-
Hot in December
By Joe R. Lansdale- Dallas Morning News Reading Joe Lansdale is like listening to a favorite uncle who just happens to be a fabulous storyteller. - Dean Koontz Joe R. Lansdale's fellow Texans would call Joe a 'straight shooter.
-
Gangs
By Clive Gifford'Gangs' deals with an issue of increasing concern in towns and cities throughout the world.
-
Filthy Rat: One Man's Stand Against Police Corruption and Melbourne's Gangland War
By Simon IllingworthFrom a young age I knew that toppies were a protected pigeon species and woodies were a species of duck, ... So, en route to our camping spot, Dad exchanged his half-full stubby of beer for the shotty I'd load for him and he'd have an ...
-
Dirty Shorts
By Margaret ClarkMaybe if he gets another thump on his hooter , it'll bash it back into shape and he won't need plastic surgery , ' goes Skugga . ' Thanks a lot . ' We get there and crouch behind some boxes . a It's easier in the dark , because it's ...
-
Juvenile Gangs
By Waln K. Brown, Ronald E. Sharp, William Gladden FoundationJuvenile Gangs
-
The Circle
By James ColemanAlthough the story is about teenagers and written for teenagers it is a gutsy book and not for the squeamish or chicken-hearted.