A large number of Irish immigrants came into the United States following the Great Potato Famine of 1847. Irish immigrants sought out refuge in the northern part of the United States. The Irish who immigrated within the cities of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia were placed in harsh socioeconomic conditions. Irish immigrants were subjected to low wages, unskilled labor, and forced military service in the United States Union Army. The socio-economical conditions of the Irish were present during the four-day 1863 draft riots in New York. The riot was responsible for 50 buildings burned that caused 1.5 million dollars’ worth of damage.[1] The Irish expressed their socioeconomic frustrations by destroying the urban environment and using the environment to attack those who threatened their socioeconomic status.
The New York Draft became a catalyst to what would become the riot due to events previously in the Civil War. Before the riots, Irish immigrants had a difficulty finding well-paying jobs due to their immigrant status. Lack of skills was one of the issues that Irish immigrants faced while entering the United States’ workforce. The work that was available to them was low-waged jobs such as factory workers and shipbuilders, and the militia that in most cases that would barely feed their families. During the Civil War, members in lower classes did not have any opportunity to remove themselves from the draft. New Yorkers from the higher classes were able to pay a 300-dollar fee in order to not to be a part of the draft, a luxury not available to most of the Irish working class.[2] The draft exemptions angered many Irish immigrants due to them feeling there were being sacrificed for the rich man’s benefit.
The four-day riots became an arena for Irish immigrants to display their frustrations for their condition in their new home. The ‘Black Joe’ company, a group made up of volunteers, displayed their anger of not being exempted from the draft by burning draft papers within the draft office.[3] After day two the ‘Black Joe’ company no longer participated in the riot, yet other low-class workers such as dockworkers continued to riot. The riots were comprised of 1,250 to 1,500 men who were mostly Irish dock workers.[4] Rioters targeted buildings surrounding the draft office and on streets such as 29th and the corner of 3rd avenue. The destruction of the urban environment also included looted shops, tore up railroad tracks and cut communication lines as part of their destructive rampage in New York.[5] The riots on the second day became more hostile and started to target an assault on African Americans.
African Americans became a target of resentment and mistrust from Irish immigrants because of the competitive job market in the Northern United States. Freed African Americans were one of the biggest competitors to the Irish because of their lack of skills and racism targeted towards them. The Emancipation Proclamation aided to the tensions between both groups; it increased the Irish’s fears that African Americans would replace them, and it would be harder for them to find jobs. The draft riots displayed the fears and frustrations that the Irish felt towards African Americans. Rioters would target African American within the community and began with just assault. The mob who was mostly made up of Irish immigrants escalated the assaults against African Americans by using the environment for harmful purposes. The mob used trees and lampposts in order to hang and lynch African Americans.[6] Rioters such as an Irish sixteen-year-old, Patrick Butler, cut down a body of a lynched African American and dragged his body down the street by his genitals.[7] African American males were the most targeted by the riot mob, while in most cases women and children were spared. As African American males went into hiding, the mob sought them out.
The riot mob used other environmental damages in order to target African Americans. The riot mob would seek out African Americans by searching within homes. While searching for African Americans, homes were looted and burned. An African American children’s orphanage was one of largest buildings to be destroyed by the mob. The four-day event by the Irish rioters caused the destruction of African American homes and 5,000 of the New York African American population fleed the area for safety.[8] The rioters used the destruction of property to display their distrust and hatred towards African Americans.
The Irish were not the only immigrant class that participated in the New York draft, but they had the largest number of participants. Before the draft began, Irish immigrants were one of the poorest classes within the city, and their socioeconomic status shaped their disapproval toward the draft. The Irish felt that due to their poor status, they were forced to enter the war without any possibility of being exempted. Other events such as the fear of labor competition among African Americans led the Irish to be frustrated and distrust them and used the draft riots as an outlet to display their negative feelings towards them by assault and destruction.
-Kelsey Baguley
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[1] Toby Joyce, “The New York draft riots of 1863: an Irish Civil War?”, History Ireland, 2, no. 11 (2003), https://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/the-new-york-draft-riots-of-1863-an-irish-civil-war/
[2] Shannon Luders-Maunel, “Race and Labor in the New York City Draft Riots”, Jstor Daily, May 4, 2017, https://daily.jstor.org/race-and-labor-in-the-1863-new-york-city-draft-riots/
[3] Toby Joyce, “The New York draft riots of 1863: an Irish Civil War?”
[4] Shannon Luders-Maunel, “Race and Labor in the New York City Draft Riots”
[5] Toby Joyce, “The New York draft riots of 1863: an Irish Civil War?”,
[6] Committee of Merchants for the Relief of Colored People, Suffering from the Late Riots in the City of New York. [from old catalog]. Report of the Committee of Merchants for the Relief of Colored People, Suffering from the Late Riots in the City of New York. 1863. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009588226. (Accessed December 3, 2018.)
[7] Toby Joyce, “The New York draft riots of 1863: an Irish Civil War?”,
[8] Committee of Merchants for the Relief of Colored People, Suffering from the Late Riots in the City of New York.
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