Draft Riots Reading 1

The New York draft riots were some of the bloodiest civilian occurrences in our nation's history, and I find it hard to believe that this is the first that I have learned of this gruesome event. I have taken part in numerous history classes, but never have I covered this important event in detail let alone in passing. I am thankful I have the chance to be made aware of the draft riots which took place in the city. If only high school classes could go more into depth on topics such as this one.

One fact which was a common thread through a few of the primary sources was the idea that the mob and rioters were a very mixed group of citizens yet they all seemed to work together to destroy homes, offices, and people. Frank Leslie's picture which was published in a newsletter depicted men wearing various outfits to show the diversity of the rioters. A couple of the men are wearing what appears to be work clothes or just clothes of lower quality, one man is wearing a suit with striped pants, and the last man on the right is wearing a soldier's uniform. The anger that touched many citizens in the United States over the draft, unified the rich and the poor and anyone in between to fight for a cause which they believed in. This idea of diversity was also reinforced in the article by J.T. Headley where he comments that "a more wild, savage, and heterogeneous-looking mass could not be imagined" also showing the unity of the mob through their anger and their common goal to destroy anything and anyone who is correlated with the draft.

The theme of murdering and lynching the black population was present in both the primary sources as well as in the movie, Gangs of New York. In another exert from a book by J.T Headley covering the attack on the colored orphan asylum, the rioters attacked this long standing unit because "there would have been no draft but for the war- there would have been no war but for slavery. But the slaves were black, ergo, all blacks are responsible for the war." Even if the children involved had no direct connections to slavery, the mob needed to target their anger at something and chose the race which they believed should be held responsible for the entire draft necessity. In Gangs of New York, a colored man in the Dead Rabbits gang was beaten and lynched for his color, with the same picture which shows the murder and mutilation of William Jones in the primary source packet flashing before the screen, as if the murder of the gang member was symbolizing the lynching of William Jones. The cruelty which the mob stopped too was disgraceful and disgusting to read about and watch in the movie. An event like the discrimination and savageness which these citizens displayed in New York City are unimaginable to me in today's world.

After watching the movie and partaking in the readings, I am more clear as to the reasons supporting the mob's motives, however I would be interested in a primary source written by someone who was actually in the mob. I believe this in sight would help to further develop a perspective on the motives for the riots. The question I have is what became of the aftermath of the draft? Did New Yorkers still get drafted? Were there repercussions for their actions?