"My Friends" when in July 1863, the city of New York was Under the Reign of a Mob .

[DRAFT RIOTS] & [SEYMOUR (Governor Horatio).]

Edité par 1864]., 1864

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Printed broadside with decorative border measuring 292 by 200mm. Some minor spotting but very good. New York, American News Co., [ A scarce broadside satirising Governor Horatio Seymour's conduct in the Draft Riots, which were the largest domestic uprising during the Civil War specifically between the Irish and the free Black community.   The tension centred on a clause that exempted men who could find a substitute and pay $300. The first draft, held on July 11, passed without incident. Yet it became clear that the working classes were affected disproportionately by the draft, being largely unable to afford the commutation fee to hire a substitute. As such, the second draft was disrupted by a crowd of about 500, led by the Black Joke Engine Company 33 (Irish volunteer firefighters).   Governor Seymour was on holiday in New Jersey at the time and returned to help re-establish order in the city.  The broadside reads: "When arson, plunder, murder, and all the infernal passions of a brutalized mob were holding high carnival, and civilization went draped in mourning" Seymour "requested the men doing these bloody deeds, to meet him in front of the City Hall in New York, and there began his coaxing, blarneying address to them, with the words 'MY FRIENDS.' His whole speech was in keeping with this introduction."   Furthermore, it is also an attack on the Irish immigrant community complete with voting tallies from the 1862 election for Five Points the "Practical Amalgamation District"; Corlears Hook the "Democratic Miscegenation District"; the Dance Houses "or Free Love District": area that include 2743 "Groggeries", 279 "notorious brothels" and 170 "places where thieves and ruffians habitually resort" all of whom "figured in the 'Reign of Terror,' in July 1863."   What began as an expression of working class anger soon evolved into a race riot. Free Blacks weren't considered US citizens and were thus ineligible for the draft. Many of the rioters were Irish immigrants who competed with free Blacks for the same jobs. The destruction was wide-ranging: Mayor Opdyke's house was sacked, telegraph lines were cut to prevent any calls for help and allowed the riot to continue unchecked, the military (which did not arrive until the second day) had no qualms in firing on the public, and several policeman were killed. Roughly 50 buildings, including two Protestant churches and the Colored Orphan's Asylum, were set alight and even rail tracks were torn up.   "It was not until Thursday, 16 July, that federal troops, some of them summoned from Gettysburg, were able to end the rioting. On 17 July Roman Catholic Archbishop John Hughes cooperated with Mayor George Opdycke in pacifying the crowd, and order was restored" (Chambers).   This broadside may have contributed to Seymour's narrow defeat in the 1864 election.   Chambers, J.W., ed., "The New York City Anti-Draft Riots" in The Oxford Companion to American Military History (OUP, 1999) p.500.

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: "My Friends" when in July 1863, the city of New York was Under the Reign of a Mob .
• Éditeur: 1864].
• Date de parution: 1864