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It has been asserted that, as a general observation, New Yorkers don’t like criticism. What was one dramatic example of this in the late 1840s?

Answer: On May 10, 1849, troops opened fire on a rioting crowd outside New York’s Astor Place Opera House, killing 22 and injuring 56.

The New Yorkers had gathered to condemn visiting British actor Charles Macready who had said that Americans and American life were ‘vulgar’.

Source: History of America by Paul Johnson

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