The Confederation of American Natives, also known as the Natives, were an American nativist street gang and political machine who operated in New York City during the 19th century. The gang was founded by William Cutting, the son of an American soldier who had been killed in the War of 1812, and who shared his father's conviction that he would die for his country if necessary. Cutting was a staunch nationalist who believed that English was to be the only language spoken in America, opposed Catholic immigration on the grounds that they were influenced towards tyrannical tendencies by the Pope through the archbishops, opposed Chinese immigration because of his belief in a white America, and opposed the emancipation of African-Americans due to his belief in white supremacism. His gang attracted the support of native-born Protestant Americans of colonial stock, who were opposed to the influx of Irish, German, Chinese, and other non-Protestant or non-white immigrants to the country. The Natives not only controlled all crime in the Five Points from 1846 to 1862, but they also presided over a powerful political machine which ran slates of nativist "Know Nothings" candidates (such as Richard Parrish for Sheriff in 1863) during citywide elections, and which even provided muscle for Tammany Hall from 1862 to 1863, when Boss William M. Tweed decided to focus on garnering the Irish vote instead. The Natives gang took control of the Five Points after the Battle of the Five Points in 1846, outlawing the Dead Rabbits and forcing the other gangs to pay tribute to them. In 1863, however, the late Dead Rabbits leader Priest Vallon's son Amsterdam Vallon - with the help of the growing Irish immigrant community and Tammany Hall - refounded the Dead Rabbits gang and led a resurgence in Irish organized crime. In July 1863, during the New York draft riots, Vallon killed Cutting in a street battle, and the Natives gang was soon destroyed as Tammany Hall consolidated its hold over New York politics with the backing (and, later, leadership) of the exponentially-growing Irish community.
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