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Gangs Of New York's Five Points: Film Analysis

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In the early 1860’s, New Yorks Five points was a violent, and lawless district, home to waves of poverty stricken immigrants like the Irish escaping the famine. Through our study of minority groups, Gangs of New York sets the stage for many sociological/historical topics and events worthy of further investigation.

1-Immigration:
In the film Gangs of New York immigration of the Irish was a major part of the problem with Americanism in Five Points. In the early 1860’s the Irish began settling in the Five Points around the same time the draft for the civil war began. The moment the Irish men came off the boat they were given citizenship and immediately drafted into the war. The Irish were never given the chance to become a native, and had to …show more content…

The main character in the movie Amsterdam Vallon, is Irish and tries to accomplish and finish what his father couldn’t achieve, which is the independence of immigrants. The natives feared that the Irish were claiming the country, and feared that the Irish would take away their jobs. Due to America still being a fairly new country, lead to the question who had the right to stay? Amsterdam’s father a leader for the street gang the “Dead Rabbits” which contained Irish Catholics and was killed during one of the many battles between the Irish and The Native Americans also known as the “Nativists”, which was lead by Bill the Butcher. The Natives think they own the land therefore making them believe they have the right of power over the immigrants. After 16 years in an orphanage, Amsterdam …show more content…

What is the sociological significance of this ending?
I think the sociological significance in which Amsterdam was trying to say was that all that they were fighting for in the end didn’t even matter. Everything that they built the city on became irrelevant and became all right in the end. For years immigrants and natives fought over the well being of their country and different religions but couldn’t respect others being different because that was all they were taught. They believed that if you were black you didn’t deserve respect and couldn’t be in church with their beliefs. At the ending of the movie Amsterdam was right in saying everything in his era had been forgotten because in the end it didn’t matter what religion or race you were who was an immigrant and who was a native we all live on a land and walk amongst each other with out having to demand that only one culture can believe in

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