New York Draft Riots
July, 13 to July, 16 1863

From the time of Lincoln's election in 1860, the Democratic Party had warned New York's Irish and German residents to prepare for the emancipation of slaves and the resultant labor competition with them. In March 1863, by a federal draft law, 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 federal government entered all eligible men into a lottery. Those who could afford to hire a substitute or pay the government three hundred dollars might avoid enlistment. Blacks, who were not considered citizens, were exempt from the draft.
On Saturday, July 11, 1863, the first lottery of the conscription law was held. For twenty-four hours the city remained quiet. On Monday, July 13, the five days that would be known as the Civil War Draft Riots began. At 10 a.m., a furious crowd of 500 attacked the Marshal's Office, where the draft was taking place. The rioters were overwhelmingly working class men, resentful, among other reasons, because the draft unfairly affected them while sparing wealthier men, who could afford to pay a $300.00 Commutation Fee.

The New York State Militia was absent, having been sent to assist Union troops in Pennsylvania, leaving the police to deal with the riots. The police forces were badly outnumbered and unable to quell the riots.

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 Republican newspaper, the New York Tribune.
Initially intended to express anger at the draft, the protests turned ugly and degraded into a virtual racial pogrom. African Americans became scapegoats and particularly the target of the Irish rioters' anger. Indeed, many immigrants and poor viewed freed slaves as competition for scarce jobs and African Americans as the reason why the