On the night of May 10, 1849, fans of Edwin Forrest, a homegrown Shakespearean actor, riot in the streets of Manhattan, in objection to fans of William C. Macready, a British Shakespearean actor. Three nights earlier, Forrest’s fans had stopped a Macready performance of Macbeth at Astor Opera House by shouting "Down with the codfish aristocracy!" from the balcony and throwing fruit and trash at the stage. But on this night, 10,000 Forrest fans are denied entry to the theater and proceed to pelt the building with stones and battle the police and militias gathered in the surrounding blocks. Losing ground, the militia begin shooting into the crowd, killing 22 to 31 people.

The next day at a meeting at City Hall, city elite praise the authorities for taking a hard line against the rioters.