The New York City Civil War Draft Riots of 1863: Four Days of Unrest On the morning of July 13th, 1863, the American Civil War had been ongoing for two years. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Lincoln on the first of that year, freeing the slaves. The battle of Gettysburg had claimed its …
The end of the Fourth of July riots came as a relief not only for the people who were afraid to leave their homes, but also for Mayor Wood. The last day of the riots was described in a front page spread by the New York Times: “At 7 o’clock a party came down from the …
“All that is loathsome, dropping and decayed is here” is the description Charles Dickens wrote in 1842 about Five Points.[1]Charles Dickens, American Notes for General Circulation, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/675/675-h/675-h.htm. As you walk in the Civil Center of New York City today, you are surrounded by giant Classical structures, whose pillars and steps lead into court rooms of …