Summary
The city of New York was likened to a small, blazing forest fire during the American Civil War, representing a tremendous threat to the city and the Union. During that period, the city was perpetually in turmoil over many topics, including politics, class, race, and the availability of work opportunities for the city’s 800,000 citizens. From July 13 to 16, 1863, a four-day period saw the worst urban violence in American history in New York. Laborers from Ireland and other countries who had just arrived in the United States during the Civil War protested new conscription rules that rendered them to be called into service. The rioters turned to other targets after setting city draft offices on fire and engaging in firefights, looting, and hunting for African-American victims to hang from lampposts. During those four days, the streets of New York City became a battlefield.
The vast majority of workers in the North were in favor of the Union and Lincoln’s war program. However, they were more concerned with perceived disparities in conscription or draft legislation. For example, new conscription rules permitted anyone with $300 to evade military service (Kinloch, n.d). The rioters were outraged, and there was nothing they could do to avoid military service because most workers in New York City and elsewhere made less than $500 a year, regardless of race. Resentment against the forthcoming draft lottery for enlisting had grown over the spring and early summer. It was clear that more troops were needed despite Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg because the growing number of dead and injured soldiers underscored the pressing need for additional recruits.
New York City Divided Pre-Civil War
Due to its economic importance, New York City was not pleased with the Civil War’s beginning because it meant losing a trade partner in the south. Cotton accounted for 40% of all goods exported out of New York’s port before the Civil War (Rasmussen, 2018). As a result, New York merchants relied heavily on cotton slavery. The black market for enslaved people continued in 1808 in New York City even though laws were enacted dictating that slavery was illegal.
Civil War financial interests were highly intertwined with the Confederacies’s in 1861. There were talks on the city’s interest in succeeding the Union Anti-war politicians had given warnings that the freed slaves from the south would be replaced by emancipation. Slaveholders’ worst fears were confirmed in September 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln issued his emancipation proclamation (Wells, 2022). The proclamation was put into effect early the next year. However, a group of New Yorkers who had fought for the Union rejected Lincoln’s decision on emancipation because they did not want the elimination of slavery.
Controversial New Government Legislation that Caused Outrage
President Abraham Lincoln’s administration implemented stringent new conscription regulations in response to a catastrophic lack of workforce in early 1863. All male citizens and unmarried men aged from twenty-five to forty-five were supposed to join the military (Williams, 2021). All eligible men were placed into a lottery, but there was a chance to either hire a replacement or pay the government 300 dollars.
Those who could afford it were unable to evade conscription, which was the typical yearly salary of an American worker at the time. As a result, African Americans were barred from serving in the armed forces since they were not citizens. Other cities, including Detroit and Boston, experienced draft-related riots, although none were as severe as New York’s (Opler, 2019). White laborers were enraged by anti-war publications criticizing the city’s first conscription lottery that occurred on July 11, 1863, in the days preceding the event.
Beginning of the Riots
On Monday, July 13, violence erupted in the city for the first twenty-four hours following the lottery. The violence was started by a fire company that volunteered, which was involved in destroying telephone lines and attacking board offices using bricks. After that, the Irish and the Irish American people began attacking military and government buildings and were violent toward those who tried to stop the attacks (Dabel & Booth, 2019). Most notably, the few police and troops the city’s administration dispatched at the time tried to disrupt their operations. In addition, there were attacks on Newspapers and republican parties, such as Tribune, that empathized with the president.
When heavy rains on the second day of the riots halted the situation, attacks against black and white people accused of sympathizing with the rebels were still carried out. While many demonstrators were happy to learn that the conscription would be postponed on the third day, the turmoil persisted into the following day, according to reports (YaleCourses, 2008). Many women participated in the riots, especially on the first day, the most violent day.
Additionally, attention was turned to attacks on Black persons, residences, and businesses by the afternoon. “Blacks were on the lowest rung of the ladder, social, economic, or any other ladder that anyone could think of” (Kinloch, n.d). More than a thousand rioters stormed into an asylum on Fifth Avenue near 42nd Street that housed more than 200 orphan children (Bixby, 2018). The rioters were armed with bats and clubs during this attack. They set fire to the orphanage, removing food, beds, and clothes, but they spared the children forced to seek refuge at a city-run shelter for the homeless.
Murder and Violence that Occurred During the Riots
The rioters attacked white abolitionists, the blacks, and ladies married to black men. In addition, black-owned businesses nearby were vandalized, and their owners were assaulted by white dockworkers hoping to drive them out of the city. Black dockworkers had long faced hostility from white dockworkers after a demonstration against their hiring turned violent in 1863. The most heinous crimes committed against African-American men involved beating to death, lynching, and other forms of punishment based on the retaliators’ intention. There were 119 confirmed deaths due to the conscription riots in New York City, and more than 2000 people were injured (Opler, 2019). These cases made the riot significant in history as one of the biggest riots.
Ending of the Draft Riot
Attempts were made to keep the draft riots under control by Peace Democrat Horatio Seymour, who was publicly against the conscription measure and appeared sympathetic to the protests. The Republican mayor of New York City, George Opdyke, sought federal troops from the War Department but did not proclaim martial law (Broxmeyer, 2020). Three days of demonstrations in Manhattan and Staten Island preceded the arrival in New York City of the first federal troops from New York battalions that participated in the Battle of Gettysburg (Dailey, 2018). On July 16, the army was able to restore order to New York City’s conscription riots after a standoff in the Murray Hill district.
Aftermath and Implications of New York Draft Riots
The riot had resulted in a death count of 119 people, where violence against the blacks was more prevalent in the dock areas. Eleven black men were hanged during the riot days (Public Broadcasting Service, n.d). A seven-year-old boy, a nephew of Robert Simmons, the first sergeant of Bermudian, was also murdered during the riot. A total of 2000 people were injured during these riots, and total property damage was worth over 1-5 million, which is a value worth 16-84 million in 2020 due to inflation (Rasmussen, 2018). The riot resulted in damage to property worth millions of dollars and resulted in people fleeing from their homes.
The New York Draft Riots are the worst in American history compared to Los Angeles and Detroit riots. Colored Orphan Asylum had to leave its original location in the heart of Harlem because of opposition from the neighborhood’s residents (24. retreat from reconstruction min 15:29-36:02). Nevertheless, an all-Black Union Army unit that marched through New York before taking a sail on the Hudson River did so in less than a year. Contrary to predictions, Chicago’s African-American community was devastated by the riots. In addition, in 1860, there were 12,414 Black New Yorkers. However, by 1865, that number had dropped to 9,945, the lowest since 1820 (Williams, 2021). Consequently, a movie was released in 2002 by The Gangs of New York chronicles. The movie addressed issues that led to the New York Draft Riots.
References
Bixby, R. C. (2018). The Loyal West: Civil War and Reunion in Middle America by Matthew E. Stanley. Journal of Southern History, 84(2), 478-479.
Broxmeyer, J. D. (2020). Electoral Capitalism: The party system in New York’s gilded age. American Governance: Politics.
Dabel, J. E., & Booth, M. E. (2019). Reputable and entitled to credit: The respectability of African American women in nineteenth-century New York City. New York History, 100(2), 192-208.
Dailey, J. E. (2018). Building the American Republic. The University of Chicago Press.
Kinloch, W. R. (n.d.). New York Draft Riots.
Opler, D. J. (2019). Revolting New York: How 400 years of riot, rebellion, uprising, and revolution shaped a City.
Public Broadcasting Service. (n.d.). Significant Civil War battles. PBS.
Rasmussen, H. (2018). Civil war treasures: Three correspondents on The New York City Draft Riots of 1863. Civil War Book Review, 20(1), 24.
Wells, J. D. (2022). Inventing white supremacy: Race, print culture, and the Civil war draft riots. Civil War History, 68(1), 42-80.
Williams, O. R. (2021). ‘Kill the Nigger’: Racial Violence in Civil War Era New York, 1860-1863. Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, 42(2), 63-74.
YaleCourses. (2008). 24. Retreat from reconstruction: The grant era and paths to “Southern redemption”. YouTube.