Changes

The Irish gang leaders were all entirely fictionalized, and none of them had any basis in fact. Some have argued that Amsterdam Vallon was based on an Irish-born gambler and gangster. The love interest of Di Caprio’s character, who is played by Cameron Diaz, was another purely fictional character. Also, the names of the gangs are not correct. For example, the Irish gang is known as the ‘Dead Rabbits’ in the motion picture, but they never existed. A newspaperman invented them in the 1850s. <ref>Walkowitz, Daniel J. "‘The Gangs of New York’: The mean streets in history." In <i>History Workshop Journal</i>, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 204-209. Oxford University Press, 2003 </ref>

<dh-ad/>

The climax of the movie is a vicious fight between Amsterdam and Bill the Butcher. This takes place during a riot by mainly Irish residents against the draft. The riot was a historical event, and it was one of the worst outbreaks of public disorder in the history of New York City. The New York City Draft Riots of 1863 were a violent expression of growing discontent among the poor and the working class. The economy of New York had suffered greatly during the war, and unemployment was high, and wages were low.