Maria Lydig Daly

Still hard-pressed at the battlefront, the federal government passed a conscription act in the summer of 1863. The draft brought violent opposition in several Northern cities, including New York, where many people supported the cause of the secessionists. The mayor, Fernando Wood, was a wellknown "Copperhead" (Confederate sympathizer) who encouraged outright insurrection against the government's conscription effort. The system of buying replacement conscripts, for the price of $300, also contributed to angry protests among workers, farmers, and others who saw the substitution system as unfairly favoring the rich.

The troubles began on Monday, July 13, 1863, the day after the names of draftees were published in local newspapers. For four days, the New York draft riots continued. By some estimates, more than one thousand persons died before the fighting, looting, and burning was finally subdued by one thousand federal troops. A...