When did the New York City draft riots occur?

The New York City draft riots (July 13–16, 1863), known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in New York City that were 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).

Initially intended to express anger at the draft, the protests turned into a race riot, with white rioters (mainly but not exclusively Irish immigrants) attacking blacks wherever they could find them. The official death toll was listed at 119 ( but historian James M. McPherson estimates that more than 120 lost their lives) and thousands injured. The conditions in the city were such that Major General John E. Wool (commander of the Department of the East), stated on July 16 that "Martial law ought to be proclaimed, but I have not a sufficient force to enforce it."

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln diverted several regiments of militia and volunteer troops (from work after the Battle of Gettysburg) to control the city. The rioters (working-class men) resented that wealthier men who could afford to pay a $300 (equivalent to $5,766 in 2015) commutation fee to hire a substitute, were spared from the draft. By the time the military arrived, the angry mob had ransacked or destroyed numerous homes,churches and public buildings. Property damage was about $1–5 million ($19.2 – $96.1 million today).