Five Points Slum Analysis

New York City has always been a turning point for many, may it be a native-American wishing to make a fortune or an arriving immigrant looking for better life conditions than the ones from his home country; it was particularly true for the many Irish immigrants fleeing Ireland. However, their growing numbers and willingness to accept any kind of work presented to them, attracted hostility from the rest of the New Yorkers leading them to be depicted mostly as troublemakers and a threat to the city. The fact that they resided mostly in Five Points, the most infamous slum of the time, did not help their case either. Still, their reputation was grossly exaggerated and merits to be set right. The Irish population in New York had survived through

By the 1840’s, Five Points had become so notorious that its name was used to describe ignorance and depravity. There is a saying that in Five Points every house is a brothel, it is without a doubt a gross exaggeration but it still gives an idea of the situation in the slum. Throughout the years the industry of prostitution had developed as sex became more and public. Still, as shunned as the Five Points slum was, gentlemen from all echelons of society would visit the brothels to seek a little pleasure. With prostitution also comes liquors, as the women continued on their business, men would hang out in bars and drink until the wee hours. “In 1851, there were at least 252 saloons and groceries in Five Points’ 22 blocks, or about a dozen per block.” In the nineteenth century, New York groceries sold liquors by the glass and always kept a barrel of beer ready for thirsty customers, they would also have pool tables to entertain them and maybe encourage them to spend a little money in the establishment. Although they looked more like bars than actual groceries those business still featured the essential goods needed by the population such as food supply, soap, tobacco and many more. However, those saloons as good a place they could be, they were also the place for fistfights and drunken crimes. Five Points was as mixing pot of different cultures and street gangs brooding in an overcrowded place, a little spark was all it took for it to make it explode and the saloons and groceries were the perfect place for it to happen as they were the places where people usually gathered to