What Were the Civil War Drafting Riots?: 3D Gallery

Civil War Conscription

The confidence of American men had worn off, and both the North and South were desperate for more soldiers. This desperation resulted in a system of conscription. Eligible men from ages 18 to 35 were drafted into the war, whether they liked it or not. But even this tactic didn't collect enough men at first, and the age range was widened to 17 to 50 years. Not everyone who was drafted wanted to go to war, however, and a pay-off system was set up. Men who wished for their names to be removed from the list of potential soldiers need only pay the government a $300 fee, in exchange for the certainty that they wouldn't have to fight. Obviously, this was a flawed system, and not everyone could afford the fee.

Violence in New York

In what is called the largest uprising in American history, angry mobs collected in New York to violently protest the first drafting lottery of the Civil War. The drafting didn't start until three years after the war had initially started, when the armies were lacking troops, but the uprisings didn't take nearly as long to spin out of control. Riots began 24 hours after the first drafting lottery was concluded, but they lasted for 4 days. To the rioters, the draft, and the high price they had to pay to avoid the draft, was proof that the Civil War was a "rich man's war, but a poor man's fight". Mobs took their frustration out on government buildings and officials/representatives, but their focus soon shifted to African-Americans and their communities, including a black orphanage. The rioters targeted free blacks under the assumption that they were the cause of the war, and therefore the cause of their predicament. Casualties from the riots amounted to over 1,000, and more than one million dollars of property was damaged.

Rioters Burn the "Colored Orphan Asylum"

The target of the mob's anger rapidly switched from government officials to the local African-American communities. Free blacks were blamed for the start of the Civil War, causing the racial tensions to climb even higher than they were before. Black people were lynched, burned, and beaten to death by rioting New Yorkers. In addition to committing scattered racial violence, the mobs also destroyed the "Colored Orphan Asylum". They first broke into the orphanage with pickaxes, before trashing and plundering the interior. After they'd done their damage to the inside, they set the establishment on fire. Luckily, the staff and children were able to escape before the building was engulfed in flames.

Irish Immigrant in the Drafting Riots

Part of the reason that people were protesting conscription in horrifically violent ways was due to the fact that the wealthy could pay their way out of it. Most of the rioters were Irish Immigrants, who couldn't afford the $300 draft avoiding fee.(These immigrants were especially prominent in the Boston Drafting Riots.) The Irish had come to America to avoid the potato famine that had been plaguing Ireland, and in most of their cases, they had fled their country without bringing much with them. The numbers of Irish immigrants and the low/working class Americans compared to the wealthy, high class Americans makes it clear that hardly anyone was able to pay their way out of conscription. The collective irritation of these two groups is what started the violence.

Women in the Drafting Riots

Men weren't the only ones who were upset about the draft. Women also played a role in the conscription protest violence. Whether they were worried for their loved ones who would be sent off to battle, or also angry about the rich man's conscription escape, women added large numbers of rioters to the protests. There are accounts of women screaming incoherently at the government officials who had set up the draft, as well as committing various vandalizing acts. They would also bring children to the riots and use them as shields. When threatened with gunpoint, women would hold up their babies and small children, daring the law enforcement to shoot. They also were a part of the senseless murder and harassment of black freemen.

Total Number of Deaths

What began as a protest against the new conscription system had spiraled out of control. The mob's cause went from the ending the conscription, to protesting the injustice of the $300 fee, to punishing African-Americans for, supposedly, starting of the Civil War. These protests only lasted four days, and yet somehow managed to become America's largest uprising. A New York newspaper published a death toll of 119 people, though the estimated amount rises to around 1,200. The majority of casualties in the New York Drafting Riots were black men, all of whom were lynched or severely beaten to death. White abolitionists and the white wives of black men were also targeted.

Drafting Riots in Boston

Around this time, there were also drafting riots in Boston, Massachusetts. Though not nearly as bad as the New York drafting riots, the Boston riots encompassed the same frustration and mob-style violence. Irish immigrants had more of an involvement here than they did in New York, and Irish women played a bigger role as well. The rioters directly attacked public buildings as well as an armory, forcing the law enforcement officials to barricade themselves inside. Casualties from these protests were mostly the protesters themselves, including a 12-year-old-boy, and law enforcement. The riots in Boston only lasted one day.

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What Were the Civil War Drafting Riots?