The New York City Pig Wars (1859)

This Day

Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia

History

4.6 • 982 Ratings

🗓️ 19 September 2024

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It's September 19th. This day in 1859, New York City declared victory in the war on pigs.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why there were so many pigs on the island of Manhattan, and how the city's expansion created an enormous amount of tension around race, class, health and gentrification.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from radiotopia.
0:07.0	My name is Jody Avergan.
0:09.0	This day, September 17, 1859, New York City declares victory in the war on pigs.
0:18.8	And just to clarify, that word can mean a number of things on the streets of New York,
0:21.9	but in this case, yes, actual pigs, the animals, swine.
0:25.0	New York City streets were swarming with pigs in the first half of the 1800s, and they played a vital role in the development of the city up until a point. Starting around the
0:34.7	1850s, tensions over the pigs grew and grew culminating in the moment that we are
0:39.8	marking today. Late summer into the early fall of 1859 the city and its newly formed
0:45.3	police force basically declare war on pigs and they descend on the areas
0:49.8	where those pigs are kept. They dismantle sties and fences, it's a whole raucous thing, and it's
0:55.9	a kind of a proper police mobilization.
0:58.6	So let's talk about the Pig Wars of 1859. Here is always,
1:03.2	Nicole Hammer of Vanderbilt and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley.
1:06.5	Hello there.
1:07.5	Hello Jody.
1:08.5	Hey there.
1:09.5	When you hear about the history of New York City and the sort of animals in it.
1:14.0	My mind always goes to horses and that idea that like, you know, there's like two feet of
1:18.8	horse manure at any given moment in New York City, but I was not aware of the deep pig
1:24.3	levels were raised two feet because of course poop.
1:26.8	Yes.
1:27.8	That's why we have brownstones.
	...

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