July 1863
Racial violenceBook sources
New York’s draft riots become attacks on Black residents
New York City
Resistance to the Civil War draft escalated into mob attacks on Black New Yorkers, including lynchings and the burning of the Colored Orphan Asylum. Anger over unequal draft obligations combined with anti-Black hostility.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
Economic grievances do not excuse or erase the targeting of Black people. This entry does not attribute participation to all Irish immigrants or adopt the chapter’s casualty estimate.
Sources
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, chapter 10, pp. 233–237; supplied print pages, edition/year unidentified
- Library of Congress: Civil War in America, draft riots ↗