New York City in the mid 1800s was run by violent gangs, corrupt politicians, and grifting opportunists who operated with no fear of punishment. It was like a powder keg ready to blow, and all it took to light the fuse, and change the future of law enforcement, was a performance of Shakespeare.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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What's past is prologue. William Shakespeare wrote that line more than 400 years ago for his play, The Tempest, Act 2, Scene 1. People have set it on stage and off for nearly half a millennia. It means that the events of the past always set the stage for the future. It's an enduring statement that grows more relevant by the day.
Back in the mid-1800s, New York City was not the international hub of commerce, arts, media, and finance that it is today. It was a place where violent gangs and corrupt political figures ran the city out in the open with no fear of the law.
This is the story of a time when New York City was a powder keg ready to blow, and a simple performance of Shakespeare was all it took to light the fuse and blow up the power dynamics of America. On today's episode, The Shakespeare Riot. This is a twist of history. It's March of 1849 in the Five Points neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York, one of the most notorious slums in the United States.
An Irish immigrant in his early 20s named John Moore walks down the street as the sun sets, and he feels his boots sinking into the ground. Five Points was built on a drained pond, but something must have gone wrong along the way, because water and waste bubble up through the ground constantly. The streets are wet and muddy and the stench is crippling to anyone who isn't used to it.
John lives here though, so he continues down the street oblivious to the smell. As he walks, everyone he passes nervously smiles and nods, because John's a known member of the 40 Thieves, one of the oldest and most powerful Irish street gangs in Five Points. John tips his cap to them and walks past a row of tenement houses, wooden or brick buildings that offer cheap apartments.
But most of these apartments are windowless, dirt floor rooms packed tight with entire families of Irish immigrants. Five Points got its name because it sprung up around a spot where several streets intersect to form Five Points in the road.
But outsiders who visit, including famous writers like Charles Dickens and Walt Whitman, don't talk about this intersection like it's just the center of a poor New York neighborhood. Instead, they describe it like it's the gate to hell. And they decry politicians and wealthy business leaders in the city for allowing fellow New Yorkers to live in such terrible conditions.
But for John and many other young people, Five Points is home, and as run down as it might be, they think it has plenty to offer. John hears shouts and laughter coming from a building on the street, and his face lights up. This is his favorite saloon that sells cheap liquor. He's been working all day, digging roads and ditches in wealthier parts of the city.
The work is brutal, but it puts a little money in his pocket and, tonight, he's ready to spend it. John walks into the saloon and amidst the shouting and laughing, he hears a few older men speaking Irish and someone playing the fiddle in a dark corner. The saloon is a place where Irish immigrants can get together and experience a small taste of the home they had to leave behind.
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