Editing Plug Uglies (section)

{{Short description|American street gang}}
{{Infobox Criminal organization
| name                 = Plug Uglies
| image                = Plug Uglies Riot Baltimore.jpg
| image_size           = 325px
| caption              = The Plug Uglies were notorious for being instigators of many [[Know-Nothing Riot|Nativist riots]] in [[Baltimore]] from 1854–1865.
| founded by           = 
| years active         = 1854–1865
| territory            = [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]] and [[Five Points, Manhattan]], [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], present-day Worth Street, Baxter Street, and [[Columbus Park (Manhattan)|Columbus Park]], in Manhattan, New York City, New York
| founded =  
| founding location    = [[Mount Vernon, Baltimore]], [[Maryland]] 
| ethnic makeup        = [[Old Stock Americans]]
| membership est    = 
| criminal activities  = [[street fighting]], [[knife fight]]ing [[assault]], [[murder]], [[robbery]], [[arson]], [[riot]]ing
| allies                      = [[Bloody Tubs]], [[Rip Raps]], [[Know Nothings|Nativists]], [[Dead Rabbits]]      
| rivals                      = Baltimore Irish American gangs
}}

[[File:Irish Caricature 19th Century Enlarged.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A plug hat worn by a rowdy Irishman in a 19th-century [[Thomas Nast]] [[stereotype]]d [[caricature]] similar to the ones worn by the Plug Uglies.]]

The '''Plug Uglies''' were an American [[Know Nothing|Nativist]] criminal street gang, sometimes referred to loosely as a political club, that operated in the west side of [[Baltimore, Maryland]], from 1854 to 1865. The term ''plug ugly'' was used to identify an extremely tough ferocious fighter who could give a sound beating to an opponent, with the Plug Uglies' name additionally stemming from their practice of stuffing oversized [[Bowler hat|plug hats]] with wool and leather, pulling them down over their ears for head protection as primitive helmets during the numerous street battles they participated in.  The name Plug Uglies was also used to refer to a number of criminal gangs in [[New York City]] as well as [[Philadelphia]].

The Plug Uglies took part in the 1856 Baltimore [[Know-Nothing Riot of 1856|Know-Nothing Riot]]. They allied themselves with the New York City Irish [[Dead Rabbits]] gang in looting New York City during the [[American Civil War]] in the [[New York City draft riots|Draft Riots of 1863]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}} However, this latter alleged association is disputed, as the Plug Uglies, a Nativist gang, were anti-Irish.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}