New York Draft Riots 266455 225323448 2008-07-13T02:30:49Z MrPMonday 689203 {{Infobox Military Conflict |image=[[Image:New York Draft Riots - fighting.jpg|300px]] |caption=Rioters and Federal troops clash |partof=[[American Civil War]] |conflict=New York Draft Riots |date= [[July 11]]-[[July 16]], [[1863]] |place=[[New York]] |result=Riot crushed |casualties3=120<ref>McPherson, James M Oral by Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction 399</ref>, although counts vary by sources. |}} The '''New York Draft Riots''' ([[July 11]] to [[July 16]], [[1863]]; known at the time as '''Draft Week'''<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?vid=LCCN01016825&id=0mUod9zTN4kC&pg=PA2&vq=%22Riot+Week%22 Barnes 5]</ref>), were [[Riot|violent disturbances]] in [[New York City]] that were the culmination of discontent with new laws passed by [[United States Congress|Congress]] to [[Conscription in the United States#Early drafts|draft]] men to fight in the ongoing [[American Civil War]]. The riots were the largest civil insurrection in American history apart from the Civil War itself<ref>Foner, E. (1988). ''Reconstruction America's unfinished revolution, 1863-1877. The New American Nation series.'' Page 32. New York: Harper & Row.</ref>. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] sent several regiments of militia and volunteer troops to control the city. The rioters numbered in the thousands and were mainly [[Irish American|Irish]].<ref name="harpers1">{{cite web | url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1863/august/new-york-riot.htm | title=The Riots | accessdate=2006-08-16 | work=[[Harper's Weekly]], volume vii, no 344 | publisher=Sonofthesouth.net | pages=382, 394}}</ref> Smaller scale riots erupted in other cities about the same time. Initially intended to express anger at the draft, the protests degraded into "a virtual racial pogrom, with uncounted numbers of blacks murdered on the streets".<ref>Foner, E. (1988). ''Reconstruction America's unfinished revolution, 1863-1877. The New American Nation series.'' Page 32. New York: Harper & Row.</ref> The conditions in the city were such that Major General [[John E. Wool]] stated on July 16, "[[Martial law]] ought to be proclaimed, but I have not a sufficient force to enforce it."<ref name="wool">{{cite web | url=http://www.civilwarhome.com/woolor.htm | title=Maj. Gen. John E. Wool Official Reports (OR) for the New York Draft Riots | accessdate=2006-08-16 | work=Shotgun's Home of the American Civil War}}</ref> The military suppressed the mob using artillery and fixed bayonets, but not before numerous buildings were ransacked or destroyed, including many homes and an orphanage for black children. ==Causes== [[Image:NYRiot.JPG|thumb|An illustration of a building fire on [[Lexington Avenue]] during the riots.]] When the Civil War started in April 1861, New Yorkers quickly rallied behind the Union cause, including a massive rally at [[Union Square (New York City)|Union Square]] attended by an estimated 100,000 to 250,000.<ref name="ellis-p296">{{cite book |title=The Epic of New York City |author=Ellis, Edward Robb |publisher=Old Town Books |year=1966 |pages=p. 296}}</ref> When [[Abraham Lincoln]] called for 75,000 volunteers to join the military and fight for the Union, 8,000 from New York City signed up within ten days.<ref name="ellis-p296"/> The [[First Battle of Bull Run]] in July 1861 took a heavy toll on Union forces, including those from New York City, leading to declining enthusiasm and optimism.<ref name="ellis-p296"/> A large contingent of [[History of the United States Democratic Party|Democrats]] in New York City, known as [[Copperheads (politics)|Copperheads]], were opposed to the war and favored negotiated peace.<ref name="ellis-p297">{{cite book |title=The Epic of New York City |author=Ellis, Edward Robb |publisher=Old Town Books |year=1966 |pages=p. 297}}</ref> New York Governor [[Horatio Seymour]] was elected in 1862, running on an anti-war platform.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Democratic Party of the State of New York: A History of the Origin, Growth and Achievements |author=Littleton, Martin Wilie, James K. McGuire |publisher=United States History Co |year=1905 |pages=p. 385}}</ref> As the war dragged on, a military manpower shortage occurred in the [[Union (Civil War)|Union]]. Congress passed the first conscription act in United States history on [[March 3]], [[1863]], authorizing the President to draft citizens between the ages of 18 and 35 for a three-year term of military service.<ref name="rhodes">{{cite book |title=History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 |author=Rhodes, James Ford |year=1899 |publisher=Macmillan |pages=p. 320-323}}</ref> Copperheads were dismayed by the news. Their main objection was to national service of any kind, but in terms of rhetoric, they attacked the provision allowing men drafted to pay either $300 or supply a substitute as a "[[Commutation (law)|commutation]] fee" to procure exemption from service.<ref>{{cite book |title=NYPD: A City and Its Police |author=Lardner, James, and Thomas Reppetto |publisher=Owl Books |year=2000 |pages=p. 43}}</ref> This led to the derisive term "300 dollar man". In actuality, the draft was designed to spur voluntary enlistment, and relatively few men were formally drafted into service.<ref name="donald"> David Donald, ''Civil War and Reconstruction'' (2002) 229</ref> In practice, however, men formed clubs whereby if one was drafted the others chipped in to pay the commutation fee. Regardless of the intent of the $300 provision&mdash;as a means of securing some much-needed funding for the war effort or sparing the sons of the rich from serving similar to [[draft dodger|draft dodging]]&mdash;public perception among the middle and lower classes was that the war had become "the rich man's war and the poor man's fight."<ref name="hearings">United States Congress, "Hearings Before and Special Reports Made by Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives", U.S. Government Printing Office, (Published 1975), [http://books.google.com/books?id=5_CJv0anr4AC&vid=OCLC23175909&q=%22Rich+man's+war%22&pgis=1# available online], accessed 2007-01-27</ref> The first drawing of names happened on Saturday, [[July 11]] without incident. Names were put on small pieces of paper, placed in a box, and then drawn one-by-one. The names put into the drawing were mainly mechanics and laborers that had been published in newspapers.<ref name="rhodes"/> Though rioting in New York didn't commence yet, riots involving opponents of [[conscription]] broke out in other cities, including [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] on [[July 6]], [[1863]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The Riot in Buffalo |publisher=The New York Times |date=July 10, 1863}}</ref> There was speculation about similar reaction in New York City to the draft, which coincided with the efforts of [[Tammany Hall]] (the base of Democratic power in the city) to enroll Irish immigrants as citizens so they could vote in local elections. Consequently, many such immigrants suddenly discovered they had to fight for their new country. <!-- This part sounds a little fishy: One of those immigrants John Masterson, a voluntary firefighter, was outraged that formerly voluntary firefighters were exempt from military combat but that changed with the Conscription act. So he and the other firefighters from the Black Joke Engine Company 33 decided to muss the lottery office. When others heard of this they decided to come along to participate. --> ==Riots== ===Monday=== The second drawing of numbers was held on Monday, [[July 13]], [[1863]], ten days after the Union victory in the [[Battle of Gettysburg]]. At 10 a.m., a furious crowd of 500 led by the Black Joke Engine Company 33, soon attacked the assistant Ninth District Provost Marshal's Office, at Third Avenue and 47th Street, where the draft was taking place.<ref name="nyt-18630714">{{cite news |title=The Mob in New York |date=July 14, 1863 |publisher=The New York Times}}</ref> The crowd began throwing large paving stones through windows, bursting through doors, and setting the building ablaze.<ref name="schouler-p418">{{cite book |title=History of the United States of America, Under the Constitution |author=Schouler, James |year=1899 |publisher=Dodd, Mead & Company |pages=p. 418}}</ref> Many of the rioters, being Irish labourers, were also opposed to [[gradualism]], because they did not want to compete with emancipated slaves for occupational opportunities. <ref name="isbn0-06-093716-5">{{cite book |author=Foner, Eric |title=Reconstruction: America's unfinished revolution, 1863-1877 |publisher=Perennial Classics |location=New York |year=2002 |pages=Pg 33 |isbn=0-06-093716-5 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=FhvA0S_op38C&pg=PA33&dq=%22class+and+racial+tensions%22+%22intention+to+replace+Irish+workmen+with+blacks%22+%22racial+hatred+ran+so+deep%22&ei=hLyPR8PqM4XasQPr2JGyCw&sig=EufQHZv34pa1kucu3EFg3uaaTh0 |doi= }}</ref> The [[New York Guard|New York State Militia]] was absent, having been sent to assist Union troops in [[Pennsylvania]], leaving the police to deal with the riots.<ref name="schouler-p418"/> The police superintendent, John Kennedy, came by on Monday to check on the situation. Although he was not in uniform, he was recognized by people in the mob and they attacked him. Kennedy was left nearly unconscious, having had his face bruised and cut, an injured eye, swelled lips, his hand cut with a knife, and a mass of bruises and blood all over his body.<ref>Barnes, David M. (1863), p. 12</ref> In response, police drew their [[Club (weapon)|club]]s and [[revolver]]s, and charged the crowd, but the crowd overpowered them.<ref name="rhodes"/> The [[New York City Police Department]] forces were badly outnumbered and unable to quell the riots, however, they were able to keep the rioting out of [[Lower Manhattan]], below [[Union Square (New York City)|Union Square]].<ref>Barnes, David M. (1863), p. 6</ref> Immigrants and others in the "Bloody Sixth" Ward, around the [[South Street Seaport|seaport]], refrained from getting involved in the Draft Riots, having experienced more than enough [[antebellum]] violence in the 1830s and 1850s.<ref>Bernstein, Iver (1990), p. 24-25</ref> [[Image:Bullsheadhotelnyc.jpg|thumb|right|Bull's Head Hotel, depicted in 1830, was burned in the riot]] The Bull's Head hotel on 44th Street, which refused to provide alcohol, was burned. The mayor's residence on Fifth Avenue, the Eighth and Fifth District police stations, and other buildings were attacked and set on fire. Other targets included the office of the leading [[History of the United States Republican Party|Republican]] newspaper, the ''[[New York Tribune]]''. The mob was turned back at the ''[[New York Tribune]]'' office by staff manning two [[Gatling gun]]s.<ref> p.122 Hohenburg, John ''Free Press/Free People: The Best Cause'' 1973 Free Press</ref> Fire engine companies responded, however some of the firefighters were sympathetic to the rioters, since they too had been drafted on Saturday.<ref name="rhodes"/> Later in the afternoon, authorities shot and killed a man, as a crowd attacked the Armory at Second Avenue and 21st Street.<ref name="nyt-18630714"/> African Americans became a [[scapegoat]] and the target of the rioters' anger. Many immigrants and poor viewed freed slaves as major competition for scarce jobs and African Americans as the reason why the civil war was being fought. [[Irish people|Irish]] immigrants comprised a large portion of the rioters,<ref name="schouler-p418"/> though a large contingent of [[Germany|German]] immigrants, and other groups also participated.<ref>Bernstein, Iver (1990), p. 23-24</ref> African Americans who fell into the mob's hands were often beaten, tortured, and/or killed, including one man that was attacked by a crowd of 400 with clubs and paving stones, then hung from a tree and set alight.<ref name="nyt-18630714"/> The Colored Orphan Asylum on Fifth Avenue, which provided shelter for hundreds of children, was attacked by a mob. The police were able to secure the orphanage for enough time to allow orphans to escape.<ref name="rhodes"/> However, a nine-year-old girl from the orphanage, who was found hiding under a bed, was clubbed to death.<ref name="ellis-p305">{{cite book |title=The Epic of New York City |author=Ellis, Edward Robb |publisher=Old Town Books |year=1966 |pages=p. 305}}</ref> ===Tuesday=== Heavy rain fell on Monday night, helping to abate the fires and sending rioters home, but the crowd returned the next day. Commerce in the city was halted, with workers joining the crowd. Rioters went after the homes of notable [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]s, including activist [[Abby Hopper Gibbons]], among others.<ref>Bernstein, Iver (1990), p. 25-26</ref> Governor [[Horatio Seymour]] arrived on Tuesday and spoke at [[New York City Hall|City Hall]], where he attempted to assuage the crowd by proclaiming the Conscription Act was unconstitutional. General [[John E. Wool]] brought approximately 800 troops in from forts in the [[New York Harbor]] and from [[West Point]]. He also ordered the militias to return to New York.<ref name="rhodes"/> ===Order restored=== The situation improved on Wednesday, when assistant provost-marshal-general Robert Nugent received word from his superior officer to suspend the draft. As this news appeared in newspapers, some rioters stayed home. But, some of the militias began to return and used harsh measures against the remaining mobs.<ref name="rhodes"/> Order began to be restored on Thursday as more federal troops returned to New York, including the 152nd New York Volunteers, the [[26th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment|26th Michigan Volunteers]], the 27th Indiana Volunteers and the [[7th Regiment New York State Militia]] from [[Frederick, Maryland]], after a forced march. In addition, the governor sent in the 74th and 65th regiments of the New York state militia, which had not been in federal service, and a section of the [[20th Independent Battery, New York Volunteer Artillery]] from [[Fort Schuyler]] in [[Throgs Neck]]. By [[July 16]], there were several thousand Federal troops in the city.<ref name="wool" /> A final confrontation occurred on Thursday evening near [[Gramercy Park]], resulting in the deaths of many rioters.<ref name="rhodes"/> ==Aftermath== The exact death toll during the New York Draft Riots is unknown, but according to historian James M. McPherson (2001), at least 120 civilians were killed<ref>McPherson, James M Ordeal by Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction 399</ref>. Estimates are that at least 2000 more injured. Total property damage was about $1 million.<ref name="Oxford">{{cite book|last=Morison|first=Samuel Eliot|title=The Oxford History of the American People: Volume Two: 1789 Through Reconstruction|publisher=Signet|date=1972|pages=451|isbn=0451622545}}</ref> Historian Samuel Morison wrote that the riots were "equivalent to a Confederate victory".<ref name="Oxford"/> The city treasury later [[Indemnity|indemnified]] one-quarter of the amount. Fifty buildings, including two Protestant churches, burned to the ground. On [[August 19]], the draft was resumed. It was completed within 10 days without further incident, although far fewer men were actually drafted than had been feared: of the 750,000 selected for conscription nationwide, only about 45,000 actually went into service.<ref name="donald" /> While the rioting mainly involved the working class, the middle and upper-class New Yorkers had split sentiments on the draft and use of federal power or [[martial law]] to enforce the draft.<ref>Bernstein, Iver (1990), p. 43</ref> Many wealthy [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] businessmen sought to have the draft declared [[constitutionality|unconstitutional]]. [[Tammany Hall|Tammany]] Democrats did not seek to have the draft declared unconstitutional, but would help pay commutation fees on behalf of poor who were drafted.<ref>Bernstein, Iver (1990), p. 44</ref> ==Fictional portrayals== The Draft Riots are fictionally portrayed in the novels ''[[On Secret Service]]'' by [[John Jakes]] and ''[[Paradise Alley (book)|Paradise Alley]]'' by [[Kevin Baker]]. The short-lived 1968 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] [[musical theatre|musical]] ''[[Maggie Flynn]]'' was set in an orphanage for black children that came under siege during the Draft Riots. In the [[steampunk]] novel ''[[The Difference Engine]]'' (1990) by [[William Gibson]] and [[Bruce Sterling]], readers are told that the riots (during an earlier Civil War finally won by the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate States]]) end in the creation of a Manhattan [[Commune (intentional community)|commune]] (compare with the [[Paris commune]]) led by [[Karl Marx]]. In the Newt Gingrich novel ''[[Grant Comes East]]'', the riots are portrayed as far more severe than they were in actuality, as this book is a sequel to his [[Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War|previous novel]] where the Confederacy won the Battle of Gettysburg. The [[Martin Scorsese]] film ''[[Gangs of New York]]'' (2002), set around the time of the Riots, was an inaccurate depiction of conflated events, <ref>[http://www.petehamill.com/nydnews121502.html Pete Hamill website]</ref> attempting to depict "the birth of Manhattan and the way the different waves of immigrants have shaped [New York City's] [[Sociocultural evolution|evolution]]".<ref name="GONY">{{cite web | url=http://www.shell.linux.se/treggy88/Leo/gony/gangs.html | title=Gangs of New York Introduction | accessdate=2007-12-08 | work=The Dream Page}}</ref> According to author and journalist [[Pete Hamill]]: "...[T]he Irish hoodlums established the nexus between New York crime and New York politics that would last more than a century. A path was established among the Dead Rabbits, the Plug Uglies, the Bowery B’hoys that continues all the way to today’s Latin Kings, Crips and Bloods." <ref>[http://www.petehamill.com/nydnews121502.html Pete Hamill website]</ref> ==See also== * [[History of New York City (1855-1897)]] * [[Opposition to the American Civil War]] * [[Domestic terrorism in the United States]] ==Notes== {{reflist|2}} ==References and further reading== {{commons}} * {{cite book |title=[http://books.google.com/books?vid=LCCN01016825&id=0mUod9zTN4kC&printsec=titlepage The Draft Riots in New York, July, 1863: The Metropolitan Police, Their Services During Riot] |author=Barnes, David M. |publisher=Baker & Godwin |year=1863}} * {{cite book |title=The New York City Draft Riots: Their Significance for American Society and Politics in the Age of the Civil War |author=Bernstein, Iver |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1990}} * {{cite book |title=The Armies of the Streets: The New York City Draft Riots of 1863 |author=Cook, Adrian |year=1974}} * {{cite book |title=New York and the Conscription of 1863 |author=[[James Barnet Fry|Fry, James Barnet]] |year=1885}} * {{cite book |title=[http://books.google.com/books?id=lZTrZBsXzIAC&vid=LCCN22024438&dq=%22horatio+seymour%22&pg=PR9&lpg=PR9 The Life and Public Services of Horatio Seymour] |author=McCabe, James Dabney |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1868}} * {{cite book |title=Lincoln, volume vii |author=Nicolay, John and [[John Hay]] |year=1890}} * {{cite book |title=The Devil's Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America |author=Schecter, Barnet |year=2005}} * {{cite book |title=[[Official Records of the American Civil War]], volume xxvii, part ii |author=United States War and Navy Departments |year=1889}} * {{Cite map | publisher = Matthew Dripps, New York | title = Map Of New York and Vicinity (1863)| url = http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps3667.html | edition = 1863 | accessdate = 2007-07-20 }} * {{cite book |title=Ordeal by Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction |author=McPherson, James M. |year=2001}} * New York Evangelist (1830-1902); Jul 23, 1863; 33, 30; APS Online pg. 4. ==External links== * [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/317749.html The New York City Draft Riots of 1863] * [http://www.civilwarhome.com/draftriots.htm New York Draft Riots] *First Edition Harper's News Report on the [http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1863/august/draft-riots.htm New York Draft Riots] * [http://www.mrlincolnandnewyork.org/inside.asp?ID=91&subjectID=4 Draft Riots] 1863 New York City Draft Riots * A [http://www.timespacemap.com/search/eventsearch.htm?_what=%22new+york+draft+riots%22&_maptype=0 Map of Events] mentioned in this article [[Category:1860s riots]] [[Category:1863 in the United States]] [[Category:African Americans in the Civil War]] [[Category:Anti-war protests in the United States]] [[Category:Conscription in the United States]] [[Category:History of New York City]] [[Category:Irish American history]] [[Category:Military history of New York City]] [[Category:New York in the American Civil War]] [[Category:Political violence in the United States]] [[Category:Race riots in the United States]] [[Category:Riots and civil unrest during the American Civil War]] [[Category:Riots and civil unrest in New York City]] [[de:Draft Riots]] [[fr:Draft Riots]] [[ko:뉴욕 징병거부 폭동]] [[nl:Dienstplichtrellen in New York]] [[ja:ニューヨーク徴兵暴動]] [[zh-yue:紐約徵兵暴動]] [[zh:紐約徵兵暴動]]