In the west, St. Louis and Cincinnati were surpassed by the immense growth of Chicago and it soon emerged as the major city. When it became the home of Stephen Douglas, it came into the political spotlight. Stephen Douglas was the presidential nominee for the Northern Democrats in the year 1860. However, in the same year itself, Abraham Lincoln was nominated as the candidate for the home state by Chicago's Republican National Convention.

There were many new comers in the political scenario. Most of them were either Irish Catholics or immigrants from Germany as well as their descendants. In the mid 1950's, a local party which was called the Know-Nothing Party, criticized the neighborhood saloons which in those times acted as a center of the social lives of the Chicago males. The stern as well as rigid morality of the Yankees is reflected in this action.

The new party that had been formed was completely against immigration and liquor. It wanted to purify politics by causing reduction in the role and power of the saloon keepers. In the year 1855, Levi Boon was elected as the mayor by the stern Know-Nothing Party. In his term, Levi Boon banned all Sunday sales of liquor as well as beer. Such aggressive enforcement of law led to a riot. Eight German men had been tried for the violation of the liquor ordinance. This particular event triggered the Lager Beer Riot in April, 1855.

The reformers saw the saloon as centers where that aroused riotous behavior and the decay of morality.