Cincinnati riot of 1853

[1] An armed mob of about 500 German men with 100 women following marched on the home of Bishop John Purcell, protesting the visit.

The central argument was over whether ownership of a church and its land should remain with the board of trustees elected by the congregation or transferred to the Bishop as representative of the Diocese.

Unfortunately, Bedini lacked tact and experience in diplomacy and was already despised by many Americans for his minor role in helping the Pope Pius IX defeat the Roman Republic during the Italian revolution of 1848.

Archbishop John Purcell had angered many non-Catholics by objecting to the taxing of Catholic parents to pay for public schools that their children did not attend.

The Dreissiger (Thirtiers), Liberal intellectuals who had left Germany in the 1830s to escape political repression, were against anti-Catholic activism, and the German-American Catholics believed in the defense of their religion.

The article went on to essentially demand Bedini's assassination, appealing specifically to the Freimänner (Society of Freemen), about 1,200 men with a meeting house in the Over-the-Rhine section of the city.

[6] Meanwhile, the Freimänner called for a meeting in the morning to prepare for a demonstration, inviting other groups, and spent the afternoon making effigies, banners and placards.

"[9] Feelings ran so high in the later part of Bedini's visit that in New York City he had to be smuggled into the ship for his return voyage.

[10] Although Cincinnati's Nativists had supported the German demonstrators, the incident continued to feed controversy over foreign immigration to America.

Ultimately, the riot directly contributed to the rise of the anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic Know-Nothing Party and to conflicts with recent immigrants.