Legacy
The riots had a profound impact on immigration to Louisville, causing more than ten thousand citizens to pack and leave for good, most to St. Louis, Chicago and Milwaukee, and a large group who left in 1856 for Prairie City, Kansas. Only the Civil War, with the trade and commerce it represented, halted this trend. The immigrants going home caused dozens upon dozens of businesses to close, affecting arts, education, and charitable causes with the loss of members, money and brain-power (primarily those who came in 1848). Empty storefronts were the norm on once-bustling commercial corridors and many of the destroyed and charred ruins lay untouched for years afterward, as a silent reminder of that terrible day.
That year also saw scattered violence in Chicago, St. Louis, Columbus, Cincinnati and New Orleans. However, within ten years, much had changed in the United States and Louisville. Immigrants brought new cultures and customs leaving their mark in this new land, and Louisville, the site of the nation's worst anti-immigrant violence, elected a German born-man, Philip Tomppert as Mayor.
Read more about this topic: Bloody Monday
Famous quotes containing the word legacy:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)