This month we are marking the 160th anniversary of one of the most dramatic moments in New York City history – the Civil War Draft Riots which stormed through the city from July 13 to July 16, 1863.
Thousands of people took to the streets on Manhattan in violent protest, fueled initially by anger over conscription to the Union Army which sent New Yorkers to the front lines of the Civil War. (Or, most specifically, those who couldn’t afford to pay the $300 commutation fee were sent to war.)
In many ways, our own city often seems to have forgotten these significant events.
There are very few memorials or plaques in existence at all to the Draft Riots, a very odd situation given the numerous markers to other tragic and unsettling moments in New York City history.
In particular, given the number of African-Americans who were murdered in the streets during these riots, and the numbers of Black families who fled New York in terror, we think this is a very significant oversight.
In this episode, a remastered, re-edited edition of our 2011 show, we take you through those hellish days of deplorable violence and appalling attacks on abolitionists, Republicans, wealthy citizens, and anybody standing in the way of blind anger. Mobs filled the streets, destroying businesses (from corner stores to Brooks Brothers) and threatening to throw the city into permanent chaos.
Visit the website for more information
FURTHER LISTENING
Fernando Wood: The Scoundrel Mayor of New York
The Hoaxes and Conspiracies of New York
And did you see this performance from the musical Paradise Square, set during the Draft Riots?
Rewind: The Historic New York City Hall
#365 Do The Right Thing (Bowery Boys Movie Club)
#364 The Very Gay History of Fire Island
#363 The Sunny Saga of Jones Beach
#362 Gatsby and the Mansions of the Gold Coast
#361 Landmarks of Coney Island (Extended Funhouse Mix)
#360 The Botanical Gardens of New York City
#359 The Magic of the Movie Theater
#358 The Muppets Take Manhattan (Bowery Boys Movie Club)
#357 Edith Wharton's New York
#356 Pfizer: A Brooklyn Origin Story
#355 The Midnight Adventures of Doctor Parkhurst
#354 Who Wrote the First American Cookbook?
#353 Harlem Before the Renaissance
Rewind: Harlem Nights at the Hotel Theresa
#352 The Birth of Black Harlem
#351 Auntie Mame (Bowery Boys Movie Club)
#350 The World Trade Center in the 1970s
Rewind: Strange Hoaxes of the 19th Century
#349 The Queensboro Bridge and the Rise of a Borough
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