Cincinnati riots of 1855

Cincinnati riots of 1855
View of Cincinnati, during the Nativist Riots of April 1855
DateApril 1855
Location
Caused byAnti-Catholicism
Nativism
Instability (political and economic)
Resulted inThe election violence and failure of the nativists to form an alliance with anti-slavery activists discredited the party in the eyes of many citizens and led to the demise of the movement. The riots meant the end of the Know Nothing party in Cincinnati
Parties

German-American residents

  • Militias

The Cincinnati Riots of 1855 were clashes between "nativists" and German-Americans. The nativists supported J. D. Taylor, the mayoral candidate for the anti-immigrant American Party, also known as the Know-Nothing Party. During the riots, German-Americans erected barricades in the streets leading into their Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, and fired a cannon over the heads of a mob of nativists attacking them.