New York City Draft Riots

Page history last edited by Tim 8 mos ago

Chunri, Tim

The New York City Draft Riots happened around the 1860's. The abolitionists of the time were huge leaders with beliefs against slavery in New York City. When speaking, they had close to thousands of followers that had the same beliefs as the speakers. The Emancipation Proclamation put forth by President Abraham Lincoln said that all male citizens between twenty and thirty-five and all unmarried men between thirty-five and forty-five years of age were subject to military duty. The riots that occured from what was the New York City draft was similar to the riots of anti-abolitionists. The riots happened during July 11-16, 1863. They happened for many reasons, all in relation to the black soldiers not getting the respect that they deserved. There was also, as there always is, some bad blood between the men fighting. The irish still don't like the others now today.

By the time the names of the first draftees were drawn in New York City on July 11, reports about the carnage of Gettysburg had been published in city papers. Lincoln's call for 300,000 more young men to fight a seemingly endless war frightened even those who supported the Union cause. Moreover, the Enrollment Act contained several exemptions, including the payment of a "commutation fee" that allowed wealthier and more influential citizens to buy their way out of service. On Sunday, June 12, the names of the draftees drawn the day before by the Provost Marshall were published in newspapers. Within hours, groups of irate citizens, many of them Irish immigrants, banded together across the city. Eventually numbering some 50,000 people, the mob terrorized neighborhoods on the East Side of New York for three days looting scores of stores. Blacks were the targets of most attacks on citizens; several lynchings and beatings occurred. In addition, a black church and orphanage were burned to the ground.

All in all, the mob caused more than $1.5 million of damage. The number killed or wounded during the riot is unknown, but estimates range from two dozen to nearly 100. The New York draft riots were "a macabre episode, a three-day orgy of violence. The draft riots stemmed from many causes — not the least of which was the way that violence had been employed for political reasons in the past three decades. The Confederate invasion had contributed to the riots in another way. At the request of the Lincoln Administration, Governor Horatio Seymour had forwarded all available militia units from New York City to the Pennsylvania war front.