On Monday, July 13, 1863 rioting broke out in New York City. A new Federal draft law had just taken effect, and there was great resentment over its provisions for substitutions and the purchase of exemptions. A mob of Irish and other foreign laborers stormed the draft headquarters and quickly began to loot many business establishments.
Negroes became the primary victims of the mob; poor whites resented having their lives risked in war to do away with the institution of slavery. Only the return of Union troops from Gettysburg ended the rioting after three long days and nights.
With an estimated one thousand killed or wounded and property losses estimated at $1,500,000, the New York Riot was one of the darkest episodes occurring in the North during the American Civil War.