The Orange Riots took place in Manhattan, New York City, in 1870 and 1871, and they involved violent conflict between Irish Protestants who were members of the Orange Order and hence called "Orangemen", and Irish Catholics, along with the New York City Police Department and the New York State National Guard. The riot caused the deaths of over 60 civilians – mostly Irish laborers – and three guardsmen.
Background
On July 12, 1870, a parade was held in Manhattan by Irish Protestants celebrating the victory at the Battle of the Boyne (1689) of King William III (also Prince of Orange), over the former King James II of England (a Catholic, who had been deposed by William III).
The parade route was up Eighth Avenue to Elm Park at 92nd Street. The Orangemen marching through the Irish-Catholic neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen was viewed by the Irish-Catholic residents as a recurring reminder of past and current class oppression. Many of the Irish-Catholic protesters followed the parade and according to statements later made by police, the violence that would follow was premeditated. At the park, the crowd of 200 Irish-Catholic protesters was joined by a group of 300 Irish-Catholic laborers working in the neighborhood, and the parade erupted into violence. Although the police intervened to quell the fighting, 8 people died as a result of the riot.
The following year, the Loyal Order of Orange requested police permission to march again. Fearing another violent incident, the parade was banned by City Police Commissioner James J. Kelso, with the support of William M. Tweed, the head of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine which controlled the city and the state. Catholic Archbishop John McCloskey applauded the decision.
Protestants objected, as did newspaper editorials in the Herald and Times, a petition signed by Wall Street businessmen, and a cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's. Not only was the ban felt to be giving in to the bad behavior of a Catholic mob, but fears were voiced about the growing political power of Irish Catholics, the increasing visibility of Irish nationalism in the city, and the possibility of a radical political action such as occurred in Paris with the Commune.
The pressure generated by these concerns among the city's elite, on top of pressure from good-government reformers against Tweed's regime in general, caused Tammany to reverse course and allow the march; Tammany needed to show that it could control the immigrant Irish population which formed a major part of its electoral power. Governor John T. Hoffman, a Tammany man, rescinded the police commissioner's ban and ordered that the paraders be protected by the city police and the state militia, including cavalry.
1871 riot
On July 12, 1871, the parade proceeded with protection from 1,500 policemen and 5 regiments of the National Guard, about 5,000 men. It was to begin at the Orangemen's headquarters at Lamartine Hall, located at Eighth Avenue and 29th Street. By 1:30 pm, the streets from 21st to 33rd were full of people, mostly Catholic, and mostly laborers, and both sides of the avenue were jammed. The police and militia arrived, to the disapproval of the crowd. The small contingent of Orangemen began their parade down the avenue at 2:00 pm, surrounded by regimental units.
The crowd began to pelt the paraders with stones, bricks, bottles, and shoes. Militiamen responded with musket fire, which brought pistol fire from some in the crowd. The police managed to get the parade moving again by charging the crowd and liberally using their clubs. The parade progressed another block but came under fire from thrown missiles again, once again provoking militia shots.
The crush of the crowds prevented more forward motion, and police used their clubs and the militia used their bayonets. Rocks and crockery pelted down on them from the rooftops along the avenue. Troops starting firing volleys into the crowd, without being ordered to do so, and the police followed up with mounted charges.
The parade managed to get to 23rd Street, where it turned left and proceeded to Fifth Avenue, where the crowds were supportive of the Orangemen. This changed again when the parade continued south down Fifth and reached the entertainment district below 14th Street, where the crowds were once again hostile. The parade then continued across town to Cooper Union, where the paraders dispersed.