<P> The New York City draft riots ( July 13 -- 16 , 1863 ) , known at the time as Draft Week , were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan , widely regarded as the culmination of working - class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War . The riots remain the largest civil and racially charged insurrection in American history , aside from the Civil War itself . </P>
<P> The New York City draft riots ( July 13 -- 16 , 1863 ) , known at the time as Draft Week , were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan , widely regarded as the culmination of working - class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War . The riots remain the largest civil and racially charged insurrection in American history , aside from the Civil War itself . </P>
what was the new york city draft riots
what was the new york city draft riots
violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan , widely regarded as the culmination of working - class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War
violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan , widely regarded as the culmination of working - class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War