July 13

New York City Draft Riots — Bloodiest Urban Violence in U.S. History

Working-class New Yorkers, many of them Irish immigrants, rioted against the Union military draft for four days, targeting draft offices, wealthy neighborhoods, and Black residents whom they blamed for causing the war. At least 119 people were killed.

The Draft Riots exposed the deep class divisions in the Union cause — poor men without $300 to buy a draft exemption resented dying for a war fought by the wealthy.