The Five Points Gang

During the turn of the century with the influx of millions of immigrants, the amount of crime in the cities rose substantially. There were many street gangs in New York through the mid 1800s and early 1900s that made a significant impact on American history. One of these gangs was the Five Points Gang located at the five points near the bowery. This gang was led by an Italian immigrant named Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli, also know as Paul Kelly. 

Paul Kelly was born in 1876 and died in 1936. He immigrated to America during an influx of Italian immigrants in the 1870s. When Paul Kelly arrived in America he became a professional boxer and was quite successful. He used his prize money to open up athletic clubs, saloons, and brothels in the Italian district. These businesses became fronts for his gang. 

Along with the athletic clubs, saloons, and brothels, the Five Points Gang did some political work. During the late 1800s and early 1900s many politicians were very corrupt. Two of these politicians were Tammy Hall and "Big" Tim Sullivan. These supported the Five Points Gang in legal battles for cost of gang members getting them to vote for Hall and Sullivan. The gang members would stuff ballot boxes, falsify voter lists, and even threaten voters to win elections. 

The Five Points Gang was not the only gang that Hall and Sullivan supported, Five Points biggest rival,  Monk Eastman's Gang, was also backed by Hall and Sullivan. The Five Points Gang and Monk Eastman's Gang disputed over territory on the lower east side of Manhattan. There many small fights until 1903 when the fighting escalated into open warfare between the gangs. In on incident, it was recorded that about 50 men from both gangs were in battle for hours. Police were sent to get control of the situation but they had to retreat because of such harsh fighting. Three men were killed and many were wounded. Monk Eastman was arrested but was only in jail for a few hours. This is because a Tammy controlled judge let him out after he swore innocence. The public was very angry. One newspaper described how a man in the Monk Eastman gang was killed and an innocent man not in any gang was killed because he was thought to be in the Five Points gang. Tom Foley (a Deputy of Tammy Hall) to Kelly and Eastman that they were to stop fighting if they wanted support from Hall. Peace lasted for about two months until fighting broke out again. Then it proposed that Paul Kelly and Monk Eastman should box to end the fighting. So the two met and fought for hours until it was deemed a tie. The men were pretty equally matched, Kelly being a professional boxer and Eastman was quite large. But the fighting died off in the end from loss of power from both gangs. Eastman was arrested and spent a few years in jail and Paul Kelly died of natural causes in 1936 at the age of 60.

The Five Points Gang started out fairly small but it grew as it absorbed other gangs. The Five Points gang had members that became some of the most notorious men in America. Lucky Luciano joined the Five Points Gang in 1916 and was one of Paul Kelly's deputies. Al Capone also joined the Five Points Gang when his smaller gang, the James Street Boys, was absorbed. Capone got his nick name Scar Face when he got in youthful fight in a saloon. His opponent came up with a knife cut his cheek, hence the name "Scar Face".

Paul Kelly: Leader of the Five Points Gang

Al Capon

Lucky Luciano 

Italian Neighborhood New York 1910 

Monk Eastman: Paul Kelly's Biggest Rival 

http://www.history.com/topics/lucky-luciano

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6103

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Points_Gang

http://www.biography.com/people/al-capone-9237536

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Kelly_(criminal)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Monk333.jpg

http://www.freeinfosociety.com/article.php?id=20

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lucky_Luciano_mugshot_1931.jpg

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1903-09-17/ed-1/seq-2/;words=Kellys+Monk+Kelly+Paul+EastmanPaul+Eastman?date1=1890&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1922&proxtext=paul+kelly+monk+eastman&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=9 

From watching the movie Faces of America, I learned that many people and things effect your life. During the industrial age millions of people immigrated to America for work. It has been proved that every American can trace routes to back to the immigrants during to industrial age. If someone traces their lineage back to their great great grandparents, they will have 32 people that have effected your life. At least one of these 32 ascendents will have been an immigrant during the industrial age.

I believe America is most definitely a "Nation of Immigrants".  The millions of people that immigrated to America during the industrial age left many things behind. They left behind most if not all their belongings, friends, and family. The immigrants also left behind their cultures. When they came to America they were embraced by a completely different culture. This attitude that the people had to pick and go to a different country looking for a better life shaped America very much. These people are why the work ethic in America is so good. The immigrants also 

Cornelius Vanderbilt

          Cornelius Vanderbilt was born May 27, 1794 to of Dutch descendants who immigrated in the 1600s. He was raised in Staten Island, New York by farming parents. When Vanderbilt was in his teens, he went to work for a cargo transporter. Later he married one of his cousins and they had thirteen children together. After his first wife died, Cornelius married another one of his cousins.

Vanderbilt bought a sailing ship and started a business transporting goods across the Hudson. He made up a large fleet and destroyed the competition. Then when steamboats came around, Vanderbilt realized that he could not compete with the speed and reliability of the steamboat, he sold his sailing ships and business. In 1817 Vanderbilt became a ferry captain for a commercial steamboat service. During this time Vanderbilt learned the steamboat industry. By the late 1820s Vanderbilt started his own business build steamboats and operating ferry lines. He became so dominant in the industry that his competitors started to pay to not compete with them. Being so dominant, Vanderbilt made many enemies in the industry. In the 1840s Vanderbilt built a large brick home at 10 Washington Place. He was not easily accepted into the elite residents because people thought that he was to rough and uncultured. I think that the other resident were jealous of Vanderbilt because he came from and rural back ground and is now a multi millionaire, they just used his rural background as a reason not to like him. In the 1850s Vanderbilt launched a steamship that transported people to and from New York and San Francisco. This was because many people were trying to get to California for the Gold Rush. Vanderbilt used a different route than most people and went through Nicaragua. Most routes were taken through the Panama Canal and around the Cape Horn of South America. This venture made Vanderbilt $1,000,000, which in today’s money is $26,000,000.

After the Gold Rush in the 1860s Vanderbilt switched to railroads. He gained control of most the railroads in between Chicago and New York. His railroad company did many things to help the industry. It lowered costs, increased efficiency, and sped up the travel and shipment times. Vanderbilt really pushed the construction of Manhattan’s Grand Central Depot in 1871. This later became the Grand Central Terminal in 1913.

Unlike other industrial giants like John D. Rockefeller, Vanderbilt was not very philanthropic. One of his only donations was $1,000,000 to start Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. When he died at the age of 82, Vanderbilt left $100 million to his son William. His descendants also built the Biltmore estate in Ashville.

Oregon Native American Mascot Ban

            The Oregon school board made eight high schools, this past summer, retire their Native American mascots, symbols, and names. Since 1970, 600 hundred schools have changed their Native American names and symbols, and 20 of them being from Oregon. Theses schools have five years to comply with the school board’s demands. There is a large controversy over the banning of Native American names and logos. Some people believe that these names show pride, while other people believe that it is racist and stereotypical.

            The reason for changing these school’s names is that people believe that the names and symbols are racist and stereotypical to Native Americans. Se-ah-don Edmo, the Vice President of the Oregon Indian Education Association told the school board, “It is racist. It is harmful. It is shaming. It is dehumanizing.” (referring to Native American names and symbols) The Superintendent of the Oregon school board also had a remark on the subject. “I do not believe any of our schools with Native American mascots intended to be disrespectful… Our role as educators needs to be to create a safe, supportive, and welcoming environment for all of our students. An environment which honors them for who they are as individuals with a rich and varied cultural history. We can no longer accept these stereotypical images for the sake of tradition. Not when they are hurting our kids.” People claim that these use of Native American names and symbols is no different then having a mascot be the “Blacks” or the “Asians”.

Which One is Worse?

The ban of Native American names and logos in Oregon has been very controversial. Some schools say that it is going to cost too much to change uniforms, artwork, signs, and other athletic gear. One school said that it would 200,000 dollars to change their name and symbol. This is a reason not to change because school and school boards are not going to be able to afford this change. Also the towns people have traditions that they do not want to break. Some people even say that the images and names celebrate the Native Americans.

The Banks High School mascot is shown on the wall of their gym Thursday in Banks, Ore.

An experiment was done where a short essay about Native American mascots and names with a picture of common mascot was given to Native American high school students to read and look over. The students were asked what they thought about the essay and mascot symbol. The findings show that most of the students did not see the mascots as negative towards Native American, although, the findings also showed negative psychological consequences. 


"The Native American Mascot: Tribute or Stereotype?" by Sam Sommers
"Oregon bans Native American school mascots, images" by CNN wore staff

"The Debate Over Native American Mascots: Claims Of Racism Should No Longer Be Ignored"

man that's country

Productive andrew