Kensington Riots of 1844

The first of two 1844 riots in Philadelphia took place May 6–8 and was part of a wave of violence in American cities sparked by Protestant nativists’ attacks on Irish Catholic immigrants. The clashes caused dozens of deaths and injuries and destroyed more than 30 buildings. Local authorities’ failure to maintain order led to such reforms as municipal consolidation in 1854, a unified police force, and the Catholic diocese’s first parochial schools.