User blog:Elgb333/Battle Against Prejudice: Dead Rabbits vs Dog Soldiers



The United States of America. The Land of the Free and the Brave. With only 300 years of existence, amazing the world by becoming today's most powerful country. It is a land of hope and opportunity; a land where different ethnicities can come and have the chance of their lifetime. No other country in the whole world has achieved this kind of multiculturality; a place where everyone is both unique and equal whatever his color, status, race or religion might be, interact with their each other freely, and have the chance for their own American Dream.

But before becoming the great cultural superpower that it is today, different race and ethnicity had to fight for their own place in the country. Identities had to be protected and the fight to who can be an American was fought. Conflicts like the Civil War, Indian Wars and racial disputes were fought. Minorities had to fight for their rights to have their American Dream. And whatever you say about racism today, nothing can compare to what it was back then...

Dead Rabbits: Irish-Americans who banded together and fight against people who wanted them out

vs

Dog Soldiers: Cheyenne Indians who resisted the incursion of White settlers and soldiers in their own land

Who is Deadliest?!

Dead Rabbits
The Dead Rabbits was the media-bestowed name of an Irish American gang in New York City, and were one of the infamous Gangs of New York in the mid-19th century. The Dead Rabbits were named because they supposedly carried a dead rabbit on a pike or were said to throw a dead rabbit in the middle of a fight before it commence. They often clashed with Nativist political groups seeking to eliminate Irish immigrant communities from New York City, and were instrumental in protecting their ethnic communities and identities from these radical groups. Their chief rival gang were the Bowery Boys; Native-born New Yorkers who supported Know Nothing political party in favor of kicking out the immigrant groups. These two rival gangs fought over 200 gang battles in a span of 10 years beginning in 1834, and they often outmanned the police force and even the state militias. They were also in the forefront of the Dead Rabbits Riot and the New York Draft Riots.

Besides street-fighting, the Dead Rabbits also supported politicians such as Fernando Wood and the Tammany Hall whose platforms included the welfare and benefit of immigrant groups and minorities, and under the leadership of Isaiah Rynders the gang also acted as enforcers to violently persuade voters during elections to vote for their candidates. One of the Dead Rabbit leader, John Morrissey, would later become a Democratic State Senator and U.S. Congressman who alleviated the conditions of the Irish-American communities for years to come.

Weapons
Melee= Knuckle Duster Knives were a common weapon for criminals and gangs back then and even now. The Dead Rabbits favored pocket knives that are easy to conceal. In battle they would also unleash their butcher knives when extra power is needed. A knuckle duster is a combination of two of the most popular weapon for criminals, a knife and brass knuckles, which give it both a bladed and blunt edge. Easy to conceal pocket pistols were popular for criminals living in urban communities were the risk of the law is present. They offer a quick way to finish your opponents and escaping the police. Dead Rabbits also acted as hitmen for their leaders and allies, using pistols in assassinating their political enemies. Such as in the case of the assassination of William Poole. Due to the difficulty of reloading cap and ball revolvers, gunmen have to carry multiple revolvers in battle to ensure overwhelming firepower. The Joslyn rifle is a breech loading percussion rifle popular in the mid-19th century preceding the Civil War. Many residents in New York carried different types of muskets and rifles such as the Joslyn rifle to defend themselves, and the Dead Rabbits also used them predominantly during in their battles such as the Dead Rabbits riots and New York draft riots.
 * Straight double-edged blade
 * Brass knuckles
 * 12 inches blade
 * -|Side Weapon= Colt Navy Revolvers
 * Cap and ball
 * 6 shots in each revolver
 * -|Main Weapon= Joslyn rifle
 * .54 caliber
 * breech-loading percussion rifle

Dog Soliders
The Dog Soldiers or Dog Men (Cheyenne Hotamétaneo'o) was one of six military societies of the Cheyenne Indians. Beginning in the late 1830s, this society evolved into a separate, militaristic band that played a dominant role in Cheyenne resistance to American expansion in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming, where the Cheyenne had settled in the early 19th Century. They were one of the principle factions during the Colorado War which was fought between Indians and White settlers.

After the deaths of nearly half the Southern Cheyenne in the cholera epidemic of 1849, many of the remaining Masikota band joined the Dog Soldiers. It effectively became a separate band, occupying territory between the Northern and Southern Cheyenne. Its members often opposed policies of peace chiefs such as Black Kettle. In 1869, most of the band were killed by United States Army forces in the Battle of Summit Springs.

Weapons
Melee= Tomahawk Like all Plain Indians, the tomahawk was a standard-issue and iconic weapon that the Cheyennes used. Made out of wood with a metal axehead, it was a versatile tool and weapon for cutting wood and people. Besides an ax, it can also have a hammer, spike or a pipe as an extra head. The tomahawk can also be thrown. Designed similarly with all American Indian bows, the Cheyenne bow is also a D-shaped self bow. Simple bows were four feet in length, made from a single piece of wood with animal sinew for bowstrings. The arrows were three feet in length and tipped with stone or metal arrowheads. Light and short, the Indian bows were designed to be effectively fired on horseback and rapid fire on foot. While it lacks the range and accuracy as longbows and recurve bows, it is powerful enough to pierce through tough buffalo and even human. The Cheyennes used their bows effectively during the Colorado War, not just for shooting at people but also for firing flaming arrows to burn White settlements and outposts. A legendary weapon from the Civil War that changed warfare forever, the Sharps carbine was a state of the art weapon that had a falling back design that was faster to load and fire than traditional muzzle-loading weapon. Indians favored them for their stopping power and effectiveness on horseback, and it was a common weapon in Indian conflicts following the Civil War.
 * Ax head
 * Hammer or spike
 * Can be thrown
 * -|Side Weapon= Indian Bow
 * 200 yards
 * Arrows are sometimes barbed or on fire for increased damage
 * -|Main Weapon= Sharps carbine
 * .52 caliber
 * Falling block percussion carbine

X-Factors
Training

Both warriors' training was based on the environment they grew upon; the Dead Rabbits being urban people while the Dog Soldiers were frontier people. While many of the Dead Rabbits were middle-classmen who were skilled thugs and organize criminals and a number of them being former policemen and prizefighters, the Dog Soldiers were born in a warrior class who's probably trained from a young age to survive in one of the deadliest frontiers in the world.

Experience

The Dead Rabbits were instrumental in fighting a personal and ethnic war against Nativist Americans who wants immigrants out for over half a century. Besides their criminal activities, they fought and protected Irish communities and assassinated many of their political rivals and enemies. They outmanned city police forces and state militias, and even brave enough to fight the U.S. Army during the racial and draft riots. The Dog Soldiers had a shorter life-span, but they duked it out in some of the bloodiest wars in the Old West such as the Colorado War. These Indians battled settlers, both armed and unarmed white people as well as fighting against the U.S. cavalry and other Indian tribes, to protect Cheyenne culture and livelihood.

Strategy and Tactics

While in the eyes of many the Dead Rabbits were just criminals, they did successfully fought for the benifit of the Irish-American community. Besides fighting against radical Nativist groups and police, they also took on a more strategic political approach. Dead Rabbits not only controlled the elections in Five Points by strength, their leaders such as John Morrisey also fought for the welfare of their people in the US government. Sadly the Dog Soldiers and Cheyennes themselves were not as successful. Their whole strategy, while guerilla in nature, were all about attrition and forcing the government to hear them out using violence. Sadly this didn't work because of the superiority of US arms and tactics as well as inner bickering and fighting in the group. The Dog Soldiers themselves didn't last that long.

Brutality

Both warriors were brutal. The Dead Rabbits bathed the street of New York with blood by fighting against rival gangs and rampant criminal activities. They also indiscrimately attacked other immigrant groups, civilians, and during the Draft Riots, even mercilessly attacked high-classmen and poor hapless African-Americans. The Dog Soldiers were no different themselves. While the fought because to protect themselves and because of the injustice the White race has brought, they fought back by attacking defenceless White settlements and families, and abducting them as well.