New York City draft riots

New York City Draft Riots of 1863
Part of Opposition to the American Civil War
An illustration in The Illustrated London News depicting armed rioters clashing with Union Army soldiers in New York City
Date	July 13–16, 1863 (1863-07-13 – 1863-07-16)
Location	Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Caused by	Civil War conscription; racism; competition for jobs between blacks and whites.
Resulted in	Riots ultimately suppressed
Parties
Rioters New York Metropolitan Police Department New York National Guard Union Army
Casualties
Death(s)	119–120[1][2]
Injuries	2,000

The New York City draft riots (July 13–16, 1863), sometimes referred to as the Manhattan draft riots and known at the time as Draft Week,^[3] were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of working-class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War. The riots remain the largest civil and most racially charged urban disturbance in American history.^[4] According to Toby Joyce, the riot represented a "civil war" within the city's Irish community, in that "mostly Irish American rioters confronted police, [while] soldiers, and pro-war politicians ... were also to a considerable extent from the local Irish immigrant community."^[5]

President Abraham Lincoln diverted several regiments of militia and volunteer troops after the Battle of Gettysburg to control the city. The rioters were overwhelmingly Irish working-class men who did not want to fight in the Civil War and resented that wealthier men, who could afford to pay a $300 commutation fee to hire a substitute, were spared from the draft.^[6][7] At the time a typical laborer's wage was between $1.00 and $2.00 a day, and the fee was equivalent to $7,400 in 2023.^[8][9][10]

Initially intended to express anger at the draft, the protests turned into a race riot against African-Americans by Irish rioters. The Irish resented the fact that free blacks were paid more than them and did not need to fear being drafted, whereas the Irish could only avoid the draft by paying $300. The official death toll was listed at either 119 or 120 individuals. Conditions in the city were such that Major General John E. Wool, commander of the Department of the East, said on July 16 that "Martial law ought to be proclaimed, but I have not a sufficient force to enforce it."^[11]

The military did not reach the city until the second day of rioting, by which time the mobs had ransacked or destroyed numerous public buildings, two Protestant churches, the homes of various abolitionists or sympathizers, many black homes, and the Colored Orphan Asylum at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue, which was burned to the ground.^[12] The area's demographics changed as a result of the riot. Many black residents left Manhattan permanently with many moving to Brooklyn. By 1865, the black population had fallen below 11,000 for the first time since 1820.^[12]