As waves of immigrants swell the population of New York, lawlessness and corruption thrive in the lower Manhattan section known as the Five Points. This is where, after years of incarceration, young Irish immigrant Amsterdam Vallon returns with the determination to seek revenge against the rival gang leader who killed his father. But Amsterdam's personal vendetta becomes part of the full-blown gang warfare that erupts as he and his fellow Irishmen fight to carve a place for themselves in their newly adopted homeland!