The planned riots entered its fourth day in New York in response to the Enrollment Act, which was enacted on March 3, 1863. Although it had become much more difficult to avoid military service, more citizens wealthy could still pay a switching fee of $ 300 to stay home. . The irritation with the project was consistent with opposition to the proclamation of emancipation of September 1862, which made the abolition of slavery the central objective of the war for the Union. Irish Democrats, who felt the war was being forced on them by Protestant Republicans, feared that the emancipation of people who were once enslaved would jeopardize their jobs.
Discontent simmered until the start of the project among Irish New Yorkers on July 11. Two days later, a crowd burned down the project office, triggering nearly five days of violence. At first, the targets included local newspapers, wealthy houses, well-dressed men and police, but the attention of the crowd quickly turned to African-Americans. Several blacks were lynched and companies employing blacks were set on fire. A black orphanage was also burned, but the children fled.
It was not until July 17 that the violence was contained by the arrival of Union troops, some of whom came from the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. More than 1,000 people died and property damage exceeded $ 2 million. The project was temporarily suspended and revised conscription began in August. Following the riots and the fragile political balance in the city, relatively few New Yorkers were forced to serve in the Union army.
READ MORE: The Most Violent Uprising in American History
