By the 1850s most of the blacks in New York were not doing that well, but they were a lot better off than their brothers in the South, who, enslaved for life, had little chance for a brighter future.
Enter into this precarious economic situation an immigrant population from Europe. The Great Famine in Ireland alone caused a million deaths from disease and starvation. That many more were forced into emigration. Thousands of the Irish soon found themselves in New York City, desperately trying to compete for the few jobs available. They, like some of their black neighbors, lived in miserable conditions. The Five Points region of New York, where many of the Irish poor lived, was a dangerous and unforgiving area where people died easily and hope was scarce.
The Civil War brought a new perspective to the inhabitants of Lower Manhattan. For the blacks it meant a chance that their brothers and sisters in the South might soon be free. But for the Irish it meant that a newly freed population would now be competing for the same jobs that they so desperately longed for.
President Abraham Lincoln wanted more soldiers to fight for the Union. In March 1863, Congress gave him the authority to call a draft. Despite the Union Army’s need for more men, Lincoln was hesitant because of the unpopularity of the war. But in the beginning of July 1863, Union forces turned back a determined Confederate attack in a place called Gettysburg. This, Lincoln figured, was a safe time to use the draft.
The Irish immigrants in New York City had already been bombarded with rumors of blacks ready to enter the city and take away their jobs. Despite Lincoln’s statements that the war was about preserving the Union, the Irish felt as if they were being asked to risk their lives simply to free the slaves who would then compete against them. To make matters worse, a provision of the draft said that those drafted could either provide a substitute, or buy their way out of the draft for three hundred dollars. Few people in Five Points or similar neighborhoods had anything near that amount of money. The Irish took to the streets.
The targets of Irish rage were the rich, the newspapers that supported the war, and the blacks they saw as their competition. They vented that rage for four terrible days, chasing down and murdering blacks, burning buildings (including the Colored Orphan Asylum), and attacking anyone who looked wealthy.
Gettysburg had been the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. New York supplied the second highest number of soldiers in that battle and had sustained the most casualties. When these battle-weary warriors were called back to New York City to put down the rioters, they did it with a shocking brutality, often using automatic weapons against unarmed civilians. When the riots ended, the city was in shock.
But what about the Irish and blacks who had befriended one another and worked together? How about the families who were part Irish and part black? What would the effect be on them? How would they reconcile their differences?
The aftermath of the New York City Draft Riots would be far reaching. Many blacks left the city, never to return. Families were broken, and many neighborhoods forever changed. What happened in New York City during that one hot week would be a precursor to American history for years to come.
President Abraham Lincoln
The neighborhood Five Points, New York City
This letter from Helen M. Anderson, a slaveholder, is being sent to Lemuel Jackson Bowden, who was serving as a Virginia senator under the auspices of the Unionist Party. Miss Anderson complains that her slaves, freed by the Union Army, are being insolent and taunting her with their preparations to go to New York.
Commutation certificate
Lottery wheel, used for the draft
Hanging a Negro in Clarkson Street
Women pillaging
Colored Orphan Asylum—1860–1861
Dorm room at Colored Orphan Asylum
Burning of the New York Colored Orphan Asylum
John Andrews of Virginia haranguing the mob
Walt Whitman
Map of Manhattan from New York Herald—July 20, 1863
Key to map
Provost guard attacking the rioters
Attack on the Tribune office
Resumption of the draft
Two girls, the models for Claire (standing) and Priscilla (seated)
EGMONT
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First published by Egmont USA, 2009
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Copyright © Walter Dean Myers, 2009
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Myers, Walter Dean.
Riot / Walter Dean Myers.
p. cm.
Written in screenplay format.
Summary: In 1863, fifteen-year-old Claire, the daughter of an Irish
mother and a black father, faces ugly truths and great danger when Irish
immigrants, enraged by the Civil War and a federal draft, lash out against
blacks and wealthy “swells” of New York City.
eISBN: 978-1-60684-196-9
1. Draft Riot, New York, N.Y., 1863—Juvenile fiction. [1. Draft Riot, New
York, N.Y., 1863—Fiction. 2. Race relations—Fiction. 3. Racially mixed
people—Fiction. 4. Riots—Fiction. 5. African Americans—Fiction.
6. Irish Americans—Fiction. 7. New York (N.Y.)—History—Civil War,
1861–1865—Fiction. 8. Motion picture plays.] I. Title.
PZ7.M992Rjo 2009
[Fic]—dc22
2009014638
CPSIA tracking label information:
Random House Production • 1745 Broadway • New York, NY 10019
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner.
v3.0
Walter Dean Myers, Riot
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