Intense, Violent, and a Rough Time Period in History

Rating: 10/10 (4 January 2015)

After watching Gangs of New York, I have a better picture of how rough life was during the 1840's- 1860's. Between gangs and protests against conscription, violence and chaos roamed the streets of New York. I believe that the movie was produced well to show the hatred towards immigrants and how the immigrants survived. Between having to pay one gang, the natives of America, and having to fight other rival gangs in order to keep their "homes", life was rough for the new immigrants. Amsterdam knew that in order for survival he had to join forces with Bill the Butcher. This pained Amsterdam because Bill killed Amsterdam's father, but in order to survive you had to work for Bill. The movie also shows perseverance through Amsterdam rising up after his father's death and humiliation by Bill to form the Dead Rabbits Gang again and try to reclaim the city. Everyone should watch this movie to see just how divided the United States was during the Civil War, it was not just North and South.