May 7, 1844
A Protestant mob in Philadelphia, shouting “Kill them! Kill them!” burned down more than 30 homes in the predominantly Irish suburb of Kensington. The immediate cause of the riots stemmed from Catholic opposition to the exclusive use of the Protestant Bible in the public schools. The bible controversy galvanized the nativists’ political arm, the American Republican Party; they deliberately staged a political rally directly across from the Nanny Goat Market, the center of the Irish-Catholic population. St. Michael’s and St. Augustine’s churches and the firehouse were burned to the ground.
