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The Philadelphia Nativist Riots (also known as the Philadelphia Prayer Riots, the Bible Riots and the Native American Riots) were a series of riots that took place between May 6 and 8 and July 6 and 7, 1844, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States and the adjacent districts of Kensington and Southwark. The riots were a result of rising anti-Catholic sentiment at the growing population of Irish Catholic immigrants. In the five months prior to the riots, nativist groups had been spreading a rumor that Catholics were trying to remove the Bible from public schools. A nativist rally in Kensington erupted in violence on May 6 and started a deadly riot that would result in the destruction of two Catholic churches and numerous other buildings. Riots erupted again in July, after it was discovered that St. Philip Neri's Catholic Church in Southwark had armed itself for protection. Fierce fighting broke out between the nativists and the soldiers sent to protect the church, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries. Several Catholic churches were burned but no Catholics were killed. Nationally, the riots helped fuel criticism of the nativist movement, despite denials from nativist groups of responsibility. The riots also made the deficiencies in law enforcement in Philadelphia and the surrounding districts readily apparent, influencing various reforms in local police departments and the eventual consolidation of the city in 1854. ==Background== As Philadelphia became industrialized, immigrants from England, Ireland, and Germany settled in the city and the surrounding districts. The potato famine was just underway causing emigration from Ireland. In the areas the immigrants settled, tensions that resulted from religious, economic and cultural differences grew between residents. The majority of immigrants coming to Philadelphia were Catholic. Alarmed by the rising Catholic population, Protestant Irish and native-born Americans started organizing anti-Catholic and nativist groups. The groups, many of which were established in the early 1840s, distributed anti-Catholic literature or published anti-Catholic newspapers. During the 1840s, students in Philadelphia schools began the day with reading the Protestant version of the Bible. On November 10, 1842, Philadelphia's Roman Catholic Bishop, Francis Kenrick, wrote a letter to the Board of Controllers of public schools, asking that Catholic children be allowed to read the Douay version of the Bible, used by Roman Catholics. He also asked that they be excused from other religious teaching while at school.〔''Philadelphia: A 300-Year History'', page 357〕 As a result, the Board of Controllers ordered that no child should be forced to participate in religious activities and stated that children were allowed whichever version of the Bible their parents wished. Approximately one year later, a rumor was circulated that Hugh Clark, a Kensington school director who was Catholic, was visiting a girls school, where he demanded that the principal stop Bible reading in school. The story also claimed that the principal refused and that she would rather lose her job. Hugh Clark denied this version of events and claimed that after finding out several students had left a Bible reading to read a different version of the Bible, he commented that if reading the Bible caused this kind of confusion, that it would be better if it was not read. Anti-Catholics used the story to spur anti-Catholic sentiments by claiming that Catholics, with direct influence from the Pope, were trying to remove the Bible from schools.〔 Anti-Catholic and nativist groups further inflamed hostile feelings towards Catholics by twisting Bishop Kenrick's requests to the Board of Controllers into an attack against the Bible.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Philadelphia nativist riots」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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