The 1863 Draft Riots: New York City Under Siege

<Tab/>For five days in July 1863, armed mobs interrupted enforcement of the first federal conscription and struggled with authorities on the streets of New York City. What began as a demonstration against the draft expanded into a sweeping assault against Republican Party notables, moral reformers and reform institutions, war-related industries, tax collectors, policemen and soldiers, urban transportation and communication lines, and waterfront brothel keepers (to name only some of the targets) as well as a bloody and grotesque race riot. (Bernstein, What Did the New York Ci…