Did 19th Century US Cities Deserve Their Reputations as Harbingers of Crime - Case Study Example

Abstract This paper is developed in order to examine the social environment that took place in the American cities throughout 19th Century, and advocates the thesis that, then America’s city was a felonious and violent place to live in. Through this paper will be discussed not only the thesis’ pros and cons, but will be set forth some of the prime causes as well, that have possibly engendered the continuous effusion of violence on the streets of the American towns. And finally, in attempt to be separated myth from reality as well as to be explained how the mythology exercised influence over the criminal reality, the paper will look over the most notorious American gangster’s myths created by that time written speech. 1.Introduction As far this paper is considering the thesis for the violence as a constant factor in 19th Century American cities, a few outstanding features of then American society and reality have emerged. At first is the composition of the colonial and postcolonial American society itself, as well as the unique for that time criteria, structure of the American Republic – both present a premise for the origin of the American greatness in the future, as well as for the most sinister episodes in the American history. At the second place is the very specific combination that took place in America at the early twenties of the 19th Century – relatively sudden land extension presenting possibilities for almost unlimited settlement, headlong increasing wealth among a part of the population, that kindled the rest to rush frantically in aspiration for such a wealth, as well as the increasing immigration (including great number criminals) that have delivered the necessary human material for conquering the newly acquired lands. At last but not at least is the lack of, and unwillingness to implement an effective unified policing system, phenomenon that gave the criminals the freedom to go wherever they want, and what is more important to gain in a certain period of time total impunity, even supremacy over the law (as far as the law was existing). “ In this same year (1844), New York established the first modern police force in America, followed later by Boston. Policing in the USA has never been centralised, or even regionalised, as a result of political principles established at the time of the American Revolution.”(Edwards, Charles, Democratic control of police: How 19th Century political systems determine modern policing structures, p.2, 1990) The paper advocates the thesis that in general, these features have pre-determined the crime and violence genesis and assisted in spreading them over the American cities as well. This paper has committed a journey starting with California Gold Rush (1848–1855), passing through the New York Draft Week (July 11 to July 16, 1863) during the Civil War, and finishing with the conquest of the American Wild West (1865 – 1889), in order to answer the question: did the 19th century American cities deserve their reputation as harbingers of crime, vice, riot and disorder? 2. Background One of the main characteristics of America’s colonization was the abundance of criminal contingent, as far the mother country used to vacate its own prisons at the expense of settlement of the newly discovered lands. One of the main characteristic of the United States of America as a state, after the War of Independence had been the political decentralization. Particularly the decentralization had appeared in logical consequence of colonist’s struggle against the centralized imperial control. The colonist’s wish for economical and thence political independence had formed the model of the USA much more like a union of independent countries than an integrate state unit. More or less there was decentralization in all aspects of the state’s appearance, including infrastructure, jurisdiction, military, police, etc. Moreover, special emphasis was laid upon the individual rights and their supremacy over any governmental power. “Free government is founded in jealousy, not in confidence, it is jealousy, not confidence which prescribes our limited constitutions, to bind those we are obliged to trust with power.”(T. Jefferson, in part of the Kentucky Declaration of 1789) As far the police is concerned, there was not policing structure at all, in the meaning of the European countries. “However, the sentiment of the Atlantic Democratic Revolution of the late 18th Century had led to a great distaste for monarchic order and rule, and police who resembled the armed guard of a king, prince, lord or emperor would have been completely unacceptable. This was particularly true in the new American republic, whose citizens perceived themselves to have obtained their freedom from King George’s soldiers, and were unwilling to submit to the control of any powerful government.”(Edwards, Charles, Democratic control of police: How 19th Century political systems determine modern policing structures, p.2, 1990) 3. The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) “Early in the afternoon of Monday, the 24th of January 1848, while sauntering along the tail-race inspecting the work, Marshall noticed yellow particles mingled with the excavated earth which had been washed by the late rains.’(Bancroft, Hubert H., History of California, Volume 23: 1848-1859, pp 32-33) Thus described pathetic scene had laid the beginning of an enormous wave of migration, which, for instance, between 1847 and 1870 brought to increase in population of San Francisco from about 500 to more than 150 000 people. Along with the indisputable benefits for the population itself and the United States as well (statehood for California on September 9, 1850; significantly improved communication between California and the East Coast, etc.), there were significant negatives measurable in human and environmental costs. The Native Americans had suffered severe depopulation between 1845 and 1870, estimated on more than 120 000 decrease in number. A large number of Chinese and Latin American immigrants were put to a racist attacks, chased out of claims, and driven from mining camps. “By 1850, most of the easily accessible gold had been collected, and attention turned to extracting gold from more difficult locations. Faced with gold increasingly difficult to retrieve, Americans began to drive out foreigners to get at the most accessible gold that remained. The new California State Legislature passed a foreign miners tax of twenty dollars per month, and American prospectors began organized attacks on foreign miners, particularly Latin Americans and Chinese.”( Rawls, James J. and Orsi, Richard J. (eds.) A golden state: mining and economic development in Gold Rush California (California History Sesquicentennial Series, 1999) The crime rates during the Gold Rush were so extremely high, that alongside with the harsh conditions and environmental disaster had led to extraordinary high death rate – approximately one in twelve people perished. 4. The New York Draft Week (July 11 to July 16, 1863) As far as New York City had sheltered the largest concentration of ethnical minorities in the United States, the draft riots are considered as an immigrant’s reaction (Irish in particular) against the obvious iniquity of the first conscription act, passed by the Congress on March 3, 1863. “…The provision allowing men drafted to pay either 300 dollars or supply a substitute as a commutation fee to procure exemption from service” (Lardner, James, and Thomas Reppetto, NYPD: A City and Its Police, p. 43, 2000) became the reason the poor class to be brought to the perception, that the fighting responsibilities in this war were kept especially for them. Thus, the New York Draft Riots had commenced as the largest civil anti-war insurrection in the history of the United States, to turn into a racist, anti – Afro-American commotion, inspired by the mob’s persuasion that the black afro-Americans were the main reason for the ongoing Civil War. “African Americans who fell into the mob's hands were often beaten, tortured, and/or killed, including one man that was attacked by a crowd of 400 with clubs and paving stones, then hung from a tree and set alight.”( "The Mob in New York", The New York Times, July 14, 1863) As far as pillage and setting buildings ablaze took place during the riot, finally, besides their initial cause, they had been debased to a plain criminal act. “The Bull's Head hotel on 44th Street, which refused to provide alcohol, was burned. The mayor's residence on Fifth Avenue, the Eighth and Fifth District police stations, and other buildings were attacked and set on fire. Other targets included the office of the leading Republican newspaper, the New York Tribune. Fire engine companies responded, however some of the firefighters were sympathetic to the rioters, since they too had been drafted on Saturday.”( Rhodes, James Ford, History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850, p. 320-323, 1899) And one more thing, very peculiar for the New York Draft Week - the police’s unfitness to cope with the situation “…The New York City Police Department forces were badly outnumbered and unable to quell the riots, however, they were able to keep the rioting out of Lower Manhattan, below Union Square.”(Barnes, David M., The Draft Riots in New York, July 1863: The Metropolitan Police, Their Services During Riot, p.6, 1863). In fact it was the military force that suspended the Draft Riots, with using of harsh measures against the crowd on the rampage. 5. The American Wild West (1865 – 1889) The American Wild West as territory is a term corresponding to the so-called “Frontier strip” – an area extended over six American states, from North Dakota south to Texas. A salient feature for this area of the United States was either the very little or total lack of law enforcement. Because of the open status of the land - mostly public domain, the area had begun to fill with various kinds of people – drifters, trappers, settlers, soldiers, etc. Along with the livestock raising and homesteading many other means of living took place in these territories, especially in the towns – gambling, cattle rustling, prostituting, robberies, etc. The notorious Dodge City established in June 1872, capital of the buffalo hunt until the mass extinction of the buffalos caused by the ruthless slaughter, and its predecessor Fort Dodge, Kansas, both gained the infamous reputation of places of lawlessness. No sooner than 1878 the law and order had been brought to Dodge City by law officers as W. B. 'Bat' Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Ed Masterson, etc. After the Civil War, sign characteristics of the Wild West were the western Indian Wars of 1876-1877 against the Native American tribes of Apache, Navajo, Comanche, Kiowa and Cheyenne. Even though being led relatively away from the cities, because of the successful outcome (for the white Americans) of these wars, new wave of settlers had rushed into the conquered territories, increasing either the population in the towns and the influx of criminal contingent - a trend that made possible another episode of the American Wild West reality, known as Lincoln County War. The conflict took place in the autumn of 1877, in Lincoln County, New Mexico, had begun between the town merchants and the ranchers, and turned bloody by the help of such outlaws and murderers as Henry McCarty, alias Billy the Kid. In this train of thought there is no way not to be mentioned the famous outlaw Jesse James and the legendary James-Younger gang, who had its origins in a group of Confederate guerrillas that fought in the Civil war, and commenced their post-war crime activity in 1866, specializing in robberies, including banks, trains and stagecoaches. Between 1866 and Jesse James death in 1882 the gang had stretched its activity to over seven states. 6. The Sheriff’s institution “ The system of having a sheriff responsible for the safe custody of felons and the arrangements for their trials was a long-established part of common law practice, and was established in America during its colonial era…Sheriffs remained an important part of the American justice system after independence, with the extremely important difference that the office of sheriff ceased to be a Crown or government appointment, but became an elective position.” (Edwards, Charles, Democratic control of police: How 19th Century political systems determine modern policing structures, p.4, 1990) This salient feature of the American sheriff’s office perhaps gave the American society an opportunity to win over for the law cause people as W. B. 'Bat' Masterson, Ed Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Bill Tilghman, H. B. 'Ham' Bell and Charlie Bassett. As matter of fact, throughout the 19th century, it was the sheriff’s institution that succeeded to oppose the expanding march of the unlimited crime and violence. 7. 19th century last decade As most eminent appearance of disorder in this period is considered the Johnson County War, which took place in April 1892, in Johnson County, Wyoming. In general, the purpose of the attacking side of about fifty men, dispatched toward Johnson County, was to replace the local government. The mutiny had failed and local posse led by the sheriff of Johnson County besieged the invaders. In order invaders to be saved from the posse, the Sixth Cavalry from Fort McKinney was ordered to take custody of them. 8. Myths and reality As far as the American republic was a very young country, with unimaginably mixed origins of population, except some events from the War for Independence, there was not a common-valid heroic epos that could unify the nation to be proud with. The Indian Wars and the conquering of Wild West had given the American newspapers and writers to fill this cultural gap. At first the Western Epos had appeared as a product of mythologized real heroes and events, which soon were followed by fictions. The American knights, princes and princesses were tough sheriffs, outlaws, gamblers and charming prostitutes. The most notorious names that became a part of the Wild West mythology were those of the outlaws Billy the Kid, Jesse James, as well as the enigmatic John "Liver-Eating" Johnston, Wild Bill Hickok, etc. For the sake of fairness has to be mentioned that in the pantheon were also the names of celebrity sheriffs as W. B. 'Bat' Masterson, Ed Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Bill Tilghman, H. B. 'Ham' Bell and Charlie Bassett. Becoming a part of the American culture, the western epos spread its influence even across the Atlantic – it reflected in German culture creating Kraut-Western, and Karl May became the best – selling German writer. The mixture between myths and reality became so big, that fictions were hardly distinguished from real events and personalities. Moreover the myths and reality had exercised two-way impact one over the other, as far the reality supplied the mythology with subjects and characters, as well as the mythology popularised those characters, imposing a certain model of behaviour, which inevitably led to a further spread of violence and vice throughout the country. 9. Conclusion Since the late 18th century the United States of America walked on their way from the revolutionary War of Independence to the fourth world strongest economy in the second half of the 19th century. This passage was realized against the background of enormous territorial extension, ceaseless immigration stream from all over the world, and severe Civil War lasted four years. The United States had led several wars in order to extend their territory, including the infamous Indian wars, which traced the American’s path to the wealth and prosperity, but also impregnated this path with the blood of the hundred of thousands native Americans. The blood of thousands and thousands Chinese, Latin American and other nationalities was invested in the foundation of the railway infrastructure, that connected the East and West Coast of the United States. And of course hundreds of thousands Americans died in the wars, town skirmishes, robberies and riots. So, did the 19th Century United States cities deserve their reputation as harbingers of crime, vice, riot and disorder? According the aforesaid there are compelling evidences in favour of this assertion. Starting from the essence of the American society and state, passing through the structure of the immigrant waves, and finishing with the specificity of the United States Constitution – all these factors are seemed to predetermine the abundance of violence and crime in American cities and history as well. References {1} Bancroft, Hubert H., History of California, Volume 23: 1848-1859, pp 32-33 {2} Barnes, David M., The Draft Riots in New York, July 1863: The Metropolitan Police, Their Services During Riot, p.6, 1863 {3} Edwards, Charles, Democratic control of police: How 19th Century political systems determine modern policing structures, p.2, 1990 {4} Edwards, Charles, Democratic control of police: How 19th Century political systems determine modern policing structures, p.4, 1990 {5} Lardner, James, and Thomas Reppetto, NYPD: A City and Its Police, p. 43, 2000 {6} Rhodes, James Ford, History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850, p. 320-323, 1899 {7} Rawls, James J. and Orsi, Richard J. (eds.) A golden state: mining and economic development in Gold Rush California (California History Sesquicentennial Series, 1999 {8} T. Jefferson, in part of the Kentucky Declaration of 1789 {9}"The Mob in New York", The New York Times, July 14, 1863 Read More