burned down the hospital compound in 1858 in a series of attacks known as the Staten Island Quarantine War. Although there were no deaths as a result of the attack, the arsonists completely destroyed the hospital compound. Central Park As the population grew explosively in Lower Manhattan after 1820, middle-class residents were drawn to the few existing open spaces, mainly cemeteries, to get away from the noises, smells, and chaotic life in the city. Landscape painter Asher B. Durand and writer William Cullen Bryant, recalling their rural upbringing and the great parks of Europe, advocated the therapeutic value of nature in the overcrowded city. Along with architect Andrew Jackson Downing, they envisioned a great park. The state government in 1853 provided $5 million and eminent domain powers to buy out the land owners of what became Central Park. Egbert L. Viele drew the original plans, but Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux made the final Greensward Plan design and have received the main credit. Several American influences came together in the design. Landscaped rural cemeteries, such as Mount Auburn in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, provided examples of idyllic, naturalistic landscapes. The most influential innovations in the Central Park design were the multiple circulation plans for pedestrians, horseback riders, and pleasure vehicles. The crossing routes for commercial traffic were concealed in sunken roadways screened with densely planted shrub belts so as to maintain a natural setting. It was the nation's first great urban park; Olmsted taught Americans a new sensibility in park environments and urban planning as an applied science with his radically naturalistic park design. Civil War Prior to the Civil War, in 1861, Mayor Wood proposed New York City secession from the United States as a neutral sovereign city-state to be called Tri-Insula as a way to avoid the ravages of war. Despite strong local Copperhead sympathies, the proposal was not well received. The city provided a major source of troops, supplies, equipment, and financing for the Union Army. Powerful New York politicians and newspaper editors helped shape public opinion toward the war effort and the policies of President Abraham Lincoln. The port of New York, a major entry point for immigrants, served as recruiting grounds for the Army. In July 1863, Irish Catholic protestors of conscription began five days of rioting. The "Draft Riots", the worst in American history, targeted blacks and wealthy Republicans. It