1863 Draft Riots

African Americans in Early New York City

March 5, 2025 by Dr. Liz Covart Leave a Comment

When we think of slavery in Early America, we often think about the plantations and economies of the South. But slavery was also deeply entrenched in the city of New York.

The early history of African Americans in New York City started with the arrival of the first slaves in 1626, moving through the turbulent years before New York’s emancipation in 1827, and includes in one of the most terrifying displays of racism in U.S. history, the New York City Draft Riots of 1863. [Read more…] about African Americans in Early New York City

Hopper-Gibbons House: A Relic of Manhattan’s Underground Railroad

October 18, 2024 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

The Hopper-Gibbons House at 339 West 29th Street was built in 1846-47, and is one of the last extant documented Underground Railroad site in Manhattan. Abigail Hopper Gibbons (1801-1893) and James Sloan Gibbons (1810-1892) purchased the house in 1852.

James was a cousin of Horace Greeley and the writer of the lyrics to the Civil War call to arms, “Three Hundred Thousand More.” A financial editor for the New York Evening Post he later served briefly as an editor of the Anti-Slavery Standard. Abigail was the daughter of noted abolitionist and prison reform advocate Isaac Hooper (1771-1852; his home still stands in the East Village), who directly confronted slave kidnappers. [Read more…] about Hopper-Gibbons House: A Relic of Manhattan’s Underground Railroad

Professional Racist John Van Evrie & The New York Weekly Day Book

October 24, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Southern secession was a disaster for American nationalists with a pro-slavery vision. Few were as virulent as John Van Evrie (1814–1896), a Canadian educated as a physician, who spent the 1850s building a publishing company that churned out pro-slavery works, including the notorious New York Weekly Day Book newspaper.

Van Evrie’s pseudoscience theories, which lacked evidence even for the time, claimed black people were inferior to white people, defended slavery as practiced in the United States, and attacked abolitionism. [Read more…] about Professional Racist John Van Evrie & The New York Weekly Day Book

James Eldridge Quinlan: Catskills Publisher, Historian & Copperhead

February 21, 2022 by John Conway Leave a Comment

Decades of polls of the general public and of noted scholars alike have repeatedly shown that most Americans consider Abraham Lincoln our greatest president.

That was not always the case.

And it wasn’t just those living below the Mason-Dixon Line who reviled our sixteenth president while he was in office. There was a strong anti-Lincoln sentiment in parts of the North, too, including here in Sullivan County, where a number of notable Monticello men were known to be pro-slavery Southern sympathizers, or Copperheads, as they became known.

James Eldridge Quinlan, editor of one of the county’s most prominent newspapers, The Republican Watchman, was one such man. Quinlan made no secret of his political leanings, and in fact his sentiments were so well known that at one point a group of men with opposite leanings threatened to blow up the Watchman office in order to eliminate Quinlan’s platform. [Read more…] about James Eldridge Quinlan: Catskills Publisher, Historian & Copperhead

Novel of Civil War New York by Peter Quinn Being Republished

April 14, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

Fordham University Press has announced the formation of New York ReLit, a sub-imprint of Empire State Editions, which will publish historical literary fiction, beginning with the April 2021 trade paperback re-issue of a timely American classic: distinguished Irish American author Peter Quinn’s 1995 American Book Award-winning novel, The Banished Children of Eve: A Novel of Civil War New York (2008). [Read more…] about Novel of Civil War New York by Peter Quinn Being Republished

Dagger John: Archbishop John Hughes and Irish America

October 2, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In Dagger John: Archbishop John Hughes and the Making of Irish America (Cornell University Press, 2019) biographer John Loughery tells the story of John Hughes, son of Ireland, friend of William Seward and James Buchanan, founder of St. John’s College (now Fordham University), builder of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, pioneer of parochial school education, and American diplomat. [Read more…] about Dagger John: Archbishop John Hughes and Irish America

Scorsese’s ‘Gangs of New York’ and New York History

June 24, 2018 by Robert Chiles 4 Comments

Because I teach urban history, immigration history, and in particular New York history, I often have students inquire about the merits of Martin Scorsese’s 2002 film “Gangs of New York.”

Here are a few observations about the movie and about New York history. [Read more…] about Scorsese’s ‘Gangs of New York’ and New York History

The New York City Draft Riots of 1863

January 29, 2017 by Miguel Hernandez 11 Comments

In September of 1862, President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation. It would take effect January 1, 1863, and free slaves in areas of the nation still in rebellion against the Union. Despite its limitations, free blacks, slaves, and abolitionists across the country hailed it as one of the most important actions toward full abolition.

To immigrant New Yorkers (principally Irish) the Emancipation Proclamation was confirmation of their worst fears – that they would be replaced in the labor market by recently emancipated blacks from the South. [Read more…] about The New York City Draft Riots of 1863

The Troy Draft Riot and Father Peter Havermans

July 3, 2013 by Herb Hallas 2 Comments

When what has been described as “the second most destructive draft riot in the nation” broke out in Troy on July 15, 1863, worried city residents, especially African-Americans, wondered if the Dean of the Roman Catholic churches in Troy, Father Peter Havermans, would, or could, do anything to calm the rioters and curb anticipated violence.

The bulk of the two to three thousand angry protestors in the streets were Catholics who worked in the city’s mills, factories and iron works. [Read more…] about The Troy Draft Riot and Father Peter Havermans

Avoiding The Draft, Civil War Style

June 26, 2013 by Lawrence P. Gooley 17 Comments

While reviewing some Civil War materials, I encountered mention of the New York City Draft Riots, which reminded me of my own experience with the draft back in the late 1960s. Whether there was a war or not, I had no interest in joining the military, but it was out of my hands. Vietnam was getting worse instead of better, and more troops were being sent. When I became eligible to go, America switched to the draft lottery.

While I was still in high school, my number (based on birthdays) came up in the 200s, so I didn’t have to go unless I enlisted. That wasn’t the case for men aged 18–45 during the Civil War. They had options, and not being drafted was one of them.

Few people realize that a draft of sorts was used even in the 1700s, a century before the Civil War, and that it was very similar in nature. The call for troops emanated from a central authority, whether it was the Continental Congress, or later, the President (or the Secretary of War). [Read more…] about Avoiding The Draft, Civil War Style

1863 Draft Riots

We Need Your Help Now More Than Ever

New York Almanack receives no public funds.

It’s supported only by readers like you.

Please give today (a monthly recurring gift is best)