The New York Draft Riots lasted for five days. I did a lot of thinking as to what five days actually means. Five days is the length of a school or work week. Five is my dad’s favorite number, and the name of a very popular perfume by Coco Chanel. Mundane, simple, small. However, five is also the highest and most dangerous classification of hurricanes and tornadoes. Although five days is an insignificant amount of time, the five days of the New York Draft Riots were “the most destructive episode of urban civil unrest in American History.” It turned ordinary citizens into monsters. The “official” death toll was listed at 119. One hundred and nineteen innocent lives lost over the course of five very long days in the lives of those affected by the riots.
However, records show that the death toll might have actually been much higher. Possibly even more than 1000. How is it that the numbers could be so off? It is a big difference between 25 dead each day of the riots, to 200 dead. Is the lack of resources of the 1800’s really an excuse as to why there is such a difference in numbers?
I was also surprised to hear that the government decided to stay out of thee conflict. Was this a good move? Would have it been better for both the Republicans and Democrats to get involved to clean up the mess? After the draft riots were over and they held a lottery for the draft, the government brought in the military. “With such a military presence, the lottery proceeded peaceably.” So why was there no military in the first place?
Also, did they really expect that people would volunteer for the draft after the riots were over? The public made it clear that they did not want to join the service. Once they implemented the rule that you did not have to fight if you did not want to “only two had actually joined the Union Army.” No surprise there.
Once again, I must touch upon the irony of this whole situation. Unfortunately, the draft riots left a tragic irony over the North. African Americans fled in fear after the riots were over – but where could they go? The North should have been a safe haven for them, especially after the struggle to gain freedom in the South and the coldness they were met with after they got it. However, “African Americans New Yorkers were harshly reminded that the urban North did not necessarily provide safe haven from racial violence.” How sad that the African Americans had to suffer simply for being an easy target. All in all, could this have been avoided? Or would the only way to avoid the African Americans being lost in both the North and the South would be to not free them – and thus not starting the Civil War?
