The 1863 draft riots were a result of the white workers discontent with the draft law during the Civil War. To understand why it was largely composed of Irish immigrant workers and why they mainly attacked blacks; we need to understand the similarities between the Irish and the black people.
First of all, both the Irish and the black people started with a low social and economic status. For example, Irish workers were nearly starving and could not afford decent living arrangements or medicine. During the 19th century, in Cincinnati alone, there were more than 63 recorded suicides among Irish immigrants. Also, the average life expectancy was 50 years.
Also, due to not fitting the "American" image, they were both largely discriminated against. For example, the Northern blacks were subject to constant white mob attacks, and the Know-Nothing party targeting the Irish immigrants through anti-Catholic policies and rallies in the 1850s. Unfortunately, instead of being united under this shared hardship, it divided them as they felt the need to compete economically.
The Irish were also furious about black slaves, as the white planters viewed them as too valuable for the life-threatening work that was left for the Irish immigrants to do. During the building of the canals and railroad systems, thousands of Irish immigrants died, many of which were women and children who dropped dead as they worked.
The Conscription Act of 1863 was truly the breaking point for this tense relationship. The act required the draft of all white men between twenty and forty-five years old for the Union Army, meaning the Irish immigrants would be forced to fight. On the other hand, blacks would only fight in the war if they volunteered.
On June 11, 1863, in New York City more than 100 people were murdered by an angry mob of whites (mainly Irish immigrants). After burning down a draft office, the mob proceeded to kill innocent black bystanders and 11 black men were murdered over 5 days.
The Buffalo Morning Express described "the scene of the hanging of a negro in the morning":
"The body of the one hung in the morning presented a shocking appearance at the Station-House. His fingers and toes had been sliced off, and there was scarcely an inch of his flesh which was not gashed. Late in the afternoon, a negro was dragged out of his house in West Twenty-seventh street, beaten down on the sidewalk, pounded in a horrible manner, and then hanged to a tree."
Overall, this whole conflict ties back to the idea of the oppressed vs the oppressor. The Irish were oppressed by the wealthy Americans and unfortunately thus oppressed the blacks.
Sources:
https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-26-2-the-potato-famine-and-irish-immigration-to-america.html
https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/irish6.html
Buffalo Morning Express
It is extremely sad to see how oppression and discrimination can create such disunity. Just like the Irish, many other Americans were strongly opposed to the draft. For example, in Ohio, many opponents of conscription who came from the peace section of the Democratic party urged men to desert or resist the draft. In one extreme case, anti-draft Ohioans hid a deserter, and some 900 men armed themselves in order to physically resist the draft. The federal army had to intervene to enforce the draft and sent about 450 soldiers, and the conflict between the federal army and the anti-draft men became known as the Battle of Fort Fizzle. These protests, along with similar rebellions in other states, were all firmly put down by the government.
ReplyDeleteSources:
https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Conscription_Act