Introduction

Jacksonian democracy inspired positive and negative ferment evident in the penny press, the workingman's movement, nativism, abolitionism, anti-abolitionism, riots in 1834, strikes in 1836, and a depression in 1837. The period exposed such deep fissures of class, racial, gender, and ethnic conflict that many people, including Philip Hone, wondered if democracy could survive. Cultural conflict led to riots in 1849 and the 1850s when Mayor Fernando Wood fought for home rule. The constant jockeying of individuals and interest groups was natural in a city with fluid political, economic, and social structures. The greedy robber baron and the corrupt political boss were represented by John D. Rockefeller and Boss Tweed. Although the era was dedicated to social Darwinism, New York prodded the nation's social conscience through Jacob Riis' "discovery of poverty" and Samuel Gompers' labor movement. During the second half of the twentieth century, the UN and Rockefeller Center symbolized Gotham's postwar stature.