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As immigrants were relegated to menial jobs and forced into slum conditions, some resorted to crime as a means of survival. The first organized gangs, predominantly Irish, emerged during this time, with the Dead Rabbits exemplifying the resistance against class oppression. Their struggles against nativists like the Bowery Boys, led by Bill "the Butcher" Poole, set the stage for a society where violence could lead to wealth and influence.
The Criminal Landscape of Early America
By the 1830s, the brutality expressed in gang rivalries revealed a dark truth: violence was a legitimate pathway for marginalized groups to claim power. Figures like John "Old Smoke" Morrissey, the Dead Rabbits’ leader, leveraged his notoriety to establish himself in the gambling scene and even entered Congress.