Gangs of New York is a war-packed film directed by Martin Scorsese that takes place in New York during the Civil War. This 2002 film is about a young Irish immigrant, named Amsterdam, who returns to the Five Points to get revenge on William Cutting, a powerful gang leader who murdered his father. One scene that really sticks out within the film occurs during the draft riots that took place in New York. Although this particular scene is historically accurate, there are some parts of the scene itself that seem to have a bigger impact overall. The parts that create this impact show how important this dark period was and how violently this event played out in the real world. The draft riot scene starts out with a group of men all crowded around …show more content…
In the article “Taking It to the Streets” by Richard Brookhiser, he states, “The angry poor were Irish Americans, and they lashed out not only at the police and other authority figures but at equally poor black New Yorkers” (20). As just states, Irish Americans were angry and took it out by starting these draft riots. They targeted everyone, especially the blacks because they found it unfair that they were the ones chosen to be drafted. The Irish Americans were the cause of the start of the draft …show more content…
The impact of the riots targeted many people, including the wealthy and many cultural groups. Many lives were taken in those four days, changing peoples lives dramatically. Without a doubt, the draft riots were a violent and deadly event in history. The reason behind having this particular scene filmed historically accurate is to show viewers how important this dark event actually turned out to be and to show how everything unfolded throughout this specific time
World War 2 meant discrimination, racism, and segregation for African Americans. With the draft like for Winfred W. Lynn of Jamaica, New York he chose to inform his draft board that he wanted to serve armed forces without segregation by race.
In the beginning, it seems unlikely that Gangs of New York will be an example of naturalism. Unlike To Build a Fire or Open Boat, the whole story of Gangs of New York happens in a civilized area, and nobody is in a case of danger because of the nature. Naturalism is implicit in this article. But being implicit does not mean it is ineffective. Instead, the idea of naturalism within this article is more confound than other two stories we studied before.
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.
During the 1800s, the gangs that evolved in the New York were involved in criminal activities such as robbery, prostitution, and murder as well. It is evident that even the most fierce and crime-hardened city occupants. One of the gangs that dominated the Manhattan neighborhoods is The Forty Thieves. The group was founded by Irish thieves who first met in a grocery store and dive bar which was owned by a female named Rosanna Peers. The leader of the gang was Edward Coleman who was later hanged for being associated with the murder of his wife. The group was composed of approximately forty members who were young apprentices in the city. The gang was involved in criminal activities such as stealing a particular amount of goods on a daily basis
serve, were arrested. The draft would lead to protests and riots due to its faults.2
The movie Gangs of New York takes place in Lower Manhattan’s Five Points’ neighborhood. It begins in 1846. The main protagonist Amsterdam Fallon, Priest Fallon’s son, watches his father who is the leader of the Dead Rabbit gang prepare and die in battle. As his father is on his last breadths of life giving his son counsel, Billy “the Butcher” Cutting snaps the Priest Fallon’s head. Amsterdam runs away from Cuttings henchmen to hide his father’s knife before he is captured by the Natives gang. He is taken to Hellgate orphanage. In 1862 Amsterdam returns to Five Point’s neighborhood and finds his old friend Johnny Sirocco. Johnny works now for Billy “the Butcher” and introduces Amsterdam to Cutting. Amsterdam makes his way into Cutting’s inner circle of Natives. Amsterdam also meets Jenny Everdeane while hanging out with Johnny. She bumps into Johnny to pickpocket his watch. Amsterdam notices and lets Johnny know. Johnny claims he always lets her take things. As both Cutting and Jenny take a liking to Amsterdam Johnny becomes jealous. He notices young Vallon quickly making his way into Cutting’s gang’s high ranks and into Jenny’s heart. Out of jealousy, Johnny reveals Amsterdam’s true identity to Cutting. Cutting decides to make Vallon angry. He succeeds by playing a dangerous game that involves knives with Jenny at the annual celebration of Priests Vallon’s death. Amsterdam then attempts to assassinate Cutting but fails and is taught a lesson by Cutting. Amsterdam lives at the help of Jenny. To avenge his father he starts the outlawed Dead Rabbit gang up again. He proposes a challenge to Cutting after his friend “Monk” McGinn is killed by Cutting. The fight takes place at Five Points’ neighborhood on the day the ...
The story, Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh, is a ethnographic study of a Black King Gang in the Robert Taylor community. Venkatesh accidentally stumbles upon the gang lead by J.T. and decided to study them. Throughout his journey he learns from the violence and illegal activity he witnesses that “in the projects it’s more important that you take care of the problem first. Then you worry about how you took care of it”’ (Venkatesh. 2008:164). He witnesses beatings, selling of illegal drugs, and exploitation of residents; but he also gained a lot of knowledge about the community. He works with J.T. and Ms. Bailey, the community leader, closely through his study. J.T. has taken a sociology class and he allows Venkatesh to shadow the gang
McGruder, Kevin. “Black New York and the Draft Riots.” The New York Times Opinion Page. Accessed November 11, 2013. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/black-new-york-and-the-draft-riots/?_r=1
One of our stimulus materials was music. Our teacher played 2 songs to the class, one of them was “Gangster Nation – Ice Cube” and the other one was “The Rumble – West Side Story”, both very different, but both about Law & Order. “Gangster Nation” is a more modern song and that is why it had a lot of drums and effects in the song, on the other hand “The Rumble” is a song in a musical and musicals rarely use drums, they mostly rely on the piano and maybe strings. The first song was very stereotypical all of the people wore baggy clothes and it had a number of gangs, but all of the gangs had a leader, however in “The Rumble” it was made unclear who was the leader in the gang, because all of the actors / characters were moving in unison and they
Protesting first began in 1964 by college students, a group affected by the draft. President Kennedy reinstated the draft, but included Selective Service, a law prioritizing who would be drafted first. Single, unmarr...
In Los Angeles and other urban areas in the United States, the formation of street gangs increased at a steady pace through 1996. The Bloods and the Crips, the most well-known gangs of Los Angeles, are predominately African American[1] and they have steadily increased in number since their beginnings in 1969. In addition, there are over 600 active Hispanic gangs in Los Angeles County with a growing Asian gang population numbering approximately 20,000 members.
= Gang Violence in California The City of Los Angeles is the “gang capital” of the nation. There are more than 450 active gangs in the City of Los Angeles. Many of these gangs have been in existence for over 50 years. These gangs have a combined membership of over 45,000 individuals.
Gangs have become a harsh reality in today's society. But despite what one might think, gangs illustrate many communication theories. This is done through the power gangs possesses, "gang warfare", and the trust between gang members.
The film, Crips and Bloods: Made in America, analyzes the social conditions of young African Americans associated with gang violence in South Los Angeles. Given limited opportunities aside from education and employment, many young teens were forced to partake in drug-related gangs in order to survive on the streets of South Los Angeles. The barriers that segregated whites from blacks led to the poor economic conditions of these African American communities. Dr. Josh Sides discusses how those who crossed specific boundaries were harassed and put into place. One scenario can demonstrated by Bird, whom he talks about being detained and questioned by police as to why he had been robbing. He reacts by saying, “What does a robber look like…he looks
Deep down inside everyone has the same desire – to do what one wants whenever he or she chooses to and to not have to worry about anyone or anything else. Along with this desire to be able to do what ever it is that one wishes to at any given time, a person wants to be successful at what they do. The type of success that a person wants may be measured in money, property, fame, or even the entourage that follows him or her. This kind of lifestyle is only truly lived by a certain kind of people – gangsters and mobsters. For the rest it is just a dream to be able to live such a life, but for gangsters and mobsters this lifestyle is reality. But these gangsters can go around doing anything they want without the fear of consequences, which would, for most people, lead to long-term prison sentences. We are commonly shown in many movies and television shows that gangsters can just walk into an alley and beat up whoever they wish and be able to leave as if nothing ever happened. In “The Gangster as Tragic Hero” by Robert Warshow and “Our Mobsters, Ourselves: Why The Sopranos Is Therapeutic TV” written by Ellen Willis the gangster’s middleclass part of his or her lifestyle is brought out along with this “dream” reality at the same time.