New York City draft riots

The New York Draft Riots (July 13 – 16, 1863), known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in New York City during a time that anger with President Abraham Lincoln and his laws was highest. The potests were at first caused by anger at the draft but later became violent, and the historian Eric Foner worte that "a virtual racial pogrom, with uncounted numbers of blacks murdered on the streets."

Major General John E. Wool said on July 16, "Martial law ought (should) to be proclaimed, but I have not a sufficient (enough) force to enforce it." The military stopped the mobs by using weapons. However, they had already destroyed many buildings, including homes and an orphanage for black children.

 References 

Category:1863 in the United States
Category:American Civil War
Category:History of Manhattan
Category:Riots in the United States