The New York draft riots (July 13 -- 16, 1863), known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of working-class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War. The riots remain the largest civil and racial insurrection in American history, aside from the Civil War itself.

Answer this question: new york city riots 1863 began protest against? Let's give stream of consciousness first:
To answer the above question, the relevant sentence is: The New York draft riots (July 13 -- 16, 1863), known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of working-class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War.
So, the final answer is new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War.