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New York City draft riots | HearLore
— Ch. 1 · Economic Roots And Social Tensions —
New York City draft riots.
~7 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
By 1822, nearly half of New York City's exports were cotton shipments. This economic dependence on the South created a deep divide within the city before the war even began. Upstate textile mills processed that cotton into manufacturing goods, tying local industry to Southern plantations. On the 7th of January 1861, Mayor Fernando Wood called for the city to declare independence from Washington and Albany. He argued this move would secure support from all Southern States. The Union entered the war with many citizens in New York sympathizing with the Confederacy.
The city remained a major destination for immigrants throughout the mid-19th century. Since the 1840s, most newcomers arrived from Ireland or Germany. In 1860, nearly 25 percent of the population was German-born, and many did not speak English. Journalists published sensational accounts targeting the white working class during the 1840s and 1850s. These stories dramatized the evils of interracial socializing and relationships. Reformers joined the effort to stoke fear among white laborers.
Democratic Party machines like Tammany Hall worked to enroll immigrants as U.S. citizens so they could vote in local elections. They strongly recruited Irish voters who felt economically threatened by Black workers. Tensions between black and white workers had existed since the 1850s, particularly at the docks. Free black people and white immigrants competed for low-wage jobs in the city. In March 1863, white longshoremen refused to work alongside black laborers. That month, they rioted and attacked 200 black men.
The Enrollment Act And Political Backlash
Congress passed the Enrollment Act in March 1863 to establish a draft for the first time. More troops were needed as the war continued into its third year. New citizens learned they were expected to register for the draft to fight for their new country. Black men were excluded from the draft because they were largely not considered citizens. Wealthier white men could pay for substitutes instead of serving themselves.
New York political offices including the mayor were historically held by Democrats before the war. The election of Abraham Lincoln demonstrated rising Republican power nationally. Newly elected New York City Republican Mayor George Opdyke was mired in profiteering scandals in the months leading up to the riots. The Emancipation Proclamation of January 1863 alarmed much of the white working class in New York. They feared freed slaves would migrate to the city and add further competition to the labor market.
White longshoremen had already begun refusing to work with black laborers earlier that spring. The fear of job loss drove many immigrants toward violent resistance against federal policy. The Enrollment Act became the focal point for these economic anxieties. Working-class voters felt betrayed by a government that protected wealthy exemptions while forcing them to fight.
Escalation Of Violence On Monday
The second drawing of draft numbers occurred on Monday, July 13, ten days after the Union victory at Gettysburg. At 10 am, a furious crowd of around 500 people attacked the assistant Ninth District provost marshal's office. The building stood at Third Avenue and 47th Street where the draft was taking place. A volunteer fire company known as the Black Joke led the assault. Engine Company 33 members threw large paving stones through windows and burst through doors. They set the building ablaze immediately.
When the fire department responded, rioters broke up their vehicles. Others killed horses pulling streetcars and smashed the cars to stop movement. Rioters cut telegraph lines to prevent other parts of the city from learning about the unrest. Police Superintendent John Kennedy arrived at the site on Monday to check on the situation. An Irish-American himself, Kennedy was a steadfast unionist who wore no uniform during his inspection.
People in the mob recognized him anyway and began attacking him. Kennedy was left nearly unconscious with his face bruised and cut. His eye was injured, his lips swollen, and his hand cut with a knife. He had been beaten to a mass of bruises and blood all over his body. Physicians later counted over 70 knife wounds alone. He would never fully recover from the injuries sustained that morning.
Racial Terror And Targeted Destruction
A mob of several thousand people including many women and children attacked the Colored Orphan Asylum around 4 pm. The institution stood at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue and provided shelter for 233 children. It served as a symbol of white charity to blacks and of black upward mobility. Rioters looted the building of its food and supplies before police secured it long enough for orphans to escape. The building burned down after they fled.
Throughout the areas of rioting, mobs attacked and killed numerous black civilians and destroyed their homes and businesses. James McCune Smith's pharmacy at 93 West Broadway was believed to be the first owned by a black man in the United States. White dockworkers attacked brothels, dance halls, boarding houses, and tenements that catered to black people near the midtown docks. They stripped the clothing off the white owners of these businesses to humiliate them.
Eleven black men and boys were hanged over five days during the unrest. Among the murdered black people was Joseph Reed, a seven-year-old Bermudian nephew of Robert John Simmons. Simmons served with the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and wrote about fighting in South Carolina on the 18th of July 1863. His account appeared in the New York Tribune on the 23rd of December 1863. Mobs also targeted interracial households including Ann Derrickson and Ann Martin who were married to black men.
Military Suppression And Civilian Casualties
The military did not reach the city until the second day of rioting when mobs had already ransacked or destroyed numerous public buildings. Two Protestant churches burned along with the Colored Orphan Asylum at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue. Governor Horatio Seymour arrived on Tuesday and spoke at City Hall where he attempted to assuage the crowd. He proclaimed that the Enrollment Act was unconstitutional to calm tensions temporarily.
General John E. Wool brought approximately 800 soldiers and Marines from forts in New York Harbor, West Point, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He ordered militias to return to New York immediately. By Thursday, more than 4,000 federal troops garrisoned the troubled area. The New York State Militia units were the first to arrive alongside regiments like the 152nd New York Volunteers and the 7th Regiment New York State Militia from Frederick, Maryland.
A final confrontation occurred in the evening near Gramercy Park on July 16. According to Adrian Cook, twelve people died on this last day during skirmishes between rioters, police, and Army forces. The exact death toll remains unknown but historian James M. McPherson estimates 119 or 120 individuals were killed. Other lists place the number as high as 1,200 dead. At least 2,000 people were injured according to reliable estimates.
Demographic Shifts And Long Term Impact
The city's demographics changed dramatically as a result of the riot violence. 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. Landlords drove black residents from their homes fearing that mobs would destroy buildings. Hundreds of black people including physician James McCune Smith and his family moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn or New Jersey.
White elite organized relief efforts for black victims after the violence ended. The Union League Club and Committee of Merchants for the Relief of Colored People provided nearly $40,000 to 2,500 victims. This aid helped them find new work and housing in safer areas. The white working-class riots changed the racial makeup of the city permanently. White residents exerted control in the workplace and became unequivocally divided from the Black population.
On August 19, the government resumed the draft in New York without further incident. It was completed within 10 days. Fewer men were drafted than feared by the white working class nationwide. Of 750,000 selected for conscription, only about 45,000 were sent into active duty. New York banks eventually financed the Civil War while state industries proved more productive than those of the entire Confederacy.
What caused the New York City draft riots of 1863?
The New York City draft riots erupted due to economic dependence on Southern cotton, racial tensions between white immigrants and Black workers, and resentment over the Enrollment Act which allowed wealthy men to pay for substitutes. The conflict intensified after the Emancipation Proclamation alarmed the white working class who feared job competition from freed slaves.
When did the New York City draft riots begin and end?
The New York City draft riots began on Monday July 13 when mobs attacked the assistant Ninth District provost marshal's office at Third Avenue and 47th Street. The violence continued through Thursday July 16 with a final confrontation occurring near Gramercy Park before the government resumed the draft on August 19 without further incident.
Who led the attack on the Colored Orphan Asylum during the New York City draft riots?
A mob of several thousand people including many women and children attacked the Colored Orphan Asylum around 4 pm on July 13 while it stood at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue. Rioters looted the building of its food and supplies before police secured it long enough for orphans to escape as the institution burned down.
How many people died in the New York City draft riots according to historical estimates?
Historian James M. McPherson estimates that 119 or 120 individuals were killed during the New York City draft riots though other lists place the number as high as 1,200 dead. At least 2,000 people were injured according to reliable estimates from the period between July 13 and July 16.
What happened to the Black population of New York City after the 1863 draft riots?
Many black residents left Manhattan permanently with many moving to Brooklyn or New Jersey following the violence of the New York City draft riots. By 1865 the black population had fallen below 11,000 for the first time since 1820 as landlords drove black residents from their homes fearing mobs would destroy buildings.