A01=Charles Hoffmann
A01=Tess Hoffmann
anti-Irish prejudice in the 1800s
Author_Charles Hoffmann
Author_Tess Hoffmann
Category=JBF
Category=JBSL1
Category=JKV
Category=JPA
Category=NHK
Category=NHTB
Catholic immigrants and discrimination
circumstantial evidence in legal history
class divisions in industrial towns
community outrage and legal process
courtroom drama in early America
courtroom narratives of discrimination
crime and society in the 1800s
death of a prominent industrialist
early American criminal investigations
economic rivalry and social unrest
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
ethnic scapegoating in legal cases
ethnicity and crime narratives
forensic limitations in early courts
historical case study of bias
historical legal injustices
immigrant labor in textile industry
immigrant marginalization in legal history
industrial era class conflict
industrial wealth and community power
Irish diaspora experiences in America
Irish immigrant defendants in America
jury bias and ethnicity
justice system and minority groups
laboring poor in industrial New England
law and prejudice in U.S. history
local politics and criminal justice
media coverage of historic trials
murder trials in antebellum America
nativism and ethnic tensions
nineteenth-century true crime
political influence on court proceedings
power and justice in small towns
public opinion shaping trials
religion and justice conflicts
religious conflict in nineteenth-century U.S.
Rhode Island murder case history
social history of factory communities
social inequ
social tensions in mill villages
textile mill towns in New England
working-class history and law
wrongful conviction themes
Yankee and immigrant relations
Product details
- ISBN 9781558491632
- Weight: 320g
- Dimensions: 153 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 09 Oct 1998
- Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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On New Year's Eve in 1843, Rhode Island textile manufacturer Amasa Sprague was shot and beaten to death. Within two days, three Irish immigrant brothers - Nicholas, John, and William Gordon - were arrested and charged with murder. All three were eventually brought to trial. Brotherly Love is a graphic reconstruction of the crime, its social and economic background, and the subsequent trials. The story reveals the antagonism between native born Yankees, who commanded great power, and the growing number of Irish Catholic immigrants, most of whom worked in the textile mills. Indeed, the economic, political, and religious dimensions of the conflict are all evident in the trials. The authors argue persuasively that the Gordons were victims of bigotry and circumstantial evidence, serving as convenient scapegoats to appease a community outraged over the murder of its wealthiest citizen. In telling the story of this notorious case, Brotherly Love reveals the politics of prejudice in nineteenth-century New England as played out in community and courtroom.
Charles Hoffmann is emeritus professor of English at the University of Rhode Island. The late Tess Hoffmann was professor of English at Rhode Island College.
