After our conversation. Lets turn our attention to some objects that help us describe the civil war. In the history museum, does a lot of heavy lifting and stands in for historical narratives, beyond the characteristics that define the object itself. So, lets just talk for a moment about the civil war and 50 objects, which is why this program. Harold, tell us about it and how the objects can help tell the complex story of the civil war. It is extraordinary, really, because when we undertook this project, eight years ago, it was difficult to find just 50 objects, although we think they tell the story of the war. It is a story of art, as you mentioned, artifacts, art, and objects standing in for the larger story. The story about race, the story about militarization, the story about descent, soldier live, civilian life. But it is also a story about collecting and about the New York Historical society as the trove of this citys lore from the revolutionary periods to today. So i think it is a double storm. Absolutely. Lets start with our objects of the evening. Tonight, our topic is, remarkably, aligned with current events. The new york city draft riots during the civil war were considered the largest civil disturbance, and the most racially charged in American History. And here are two objects that were witness to this event, which took place over four days in july, 1863. We have a wooden lottery well. And a bible. And if you go to the image of our first object, the 19th century draft well, on july 10th, 1863, following the Union Victories in gettysburg and vicksburg, the New York Times praised the immediate endorsement of a new draft. There were 300,000 new recruits who were needed to shore up the union army. And the now struggling confederacy. So days later, the first names of draft eligible men were drawn from wheels just like this one. Harold, tell us about this object. It isnt unusual looking objects to modernize for sure, but think of it is a large hand cranked device, look at the aperture or the cover with a lid on top. So in this wheel, where the names of conscripts. The draft is employed when recruitment is not equal state requirements. So by july, new york had to begin conscription. The First Military draft in American History. So it is not the most popular event in recruiting. This wheel was used at a draft office on the lower east side. It contained a number of names and they will be crank by approval marshal in public, and then someone would open that, stick his arm in and the first unlucky draftys name would be called. Presumably, young and would be lined up outside and they would go right from that office into the union army took. Its not a popular object, to be sure, and it was a time of tremendous things i. D. Absolutely. This object came into a collection in the New York Historical society soon after, the end of the war. You say in your book that within this object, they were ethnic tapestries and names in occupations, and it eventually came with many little draft parts and names, we can see the image of that, all handwritten, just like this. We assume that the draft riots that would be describe momentarily regarding how many were removed or denounced, but there were plenty of them in the wheel that wouldve come to the Historical Society and as you will remember, in our exhibition, the strung out the names sort of like a close line fashion. Just joseph, a jewish shoemaker from first avenue, a paper box maker from east seventh street. This is a neighborhood, willingly or unwillingly, about to see action in the civil war. The federal conscription act was passed by congress in march of 1863. Explain to us what exactly was and what its laws were. It is, again, for want of recruits and enlistees, it is a way to swell the ranks of the union army. Think, at the same time, that african troops are being recruited in the border stance into new england. New york did not have a great record on that aspect. We didnt raise our first African American regimen for another year and a half after this event. So, the laws passed to adds to the ranks through conscription, but yes, it has a flaw, kind of a fatal flaw. That is that if you paid 300 dollars for a substitute, but its really an exemption from the draft, you could buy your way out of the draft. That led to, before the after the actual draft begins, a huge amount of criticism with the democratic press. This is a rich mans war, and a poor mans fight. 300 dollars was otherwise, all meant 25 to 45 were eligible for conscription. And 300 dollars was the average annual wage of labor in new york. This is a big lift. And the days leading up to the first names being pulled, while the Republican Newspapers like the times in the tribune, are saying its our patriotic duty to go through with the draft, the democratic press is saying, we will never fight an end word war. We will not fight for African Americans, the emancipation proclamation is only two months old. And the democratic press whips the opposition into a frenzy. The new york is the largely democratic town, it voted more than 67 against Abraham Lincoln in 1860. And they put a lot of americans in the city, they were angry about three inches dollar exemption but have been told by i guess an early form of yellow journalism, that if they go to fight to the union, that African Americans who are free will come into new york city and compete with them for their jobs on the docks and in the factories by accepting lower wages, having never been paid any wages. A great deal of racial hatred is being stirred up in this population as well. And it is a hot period, its ugly and that is the foundation of what occurred on july 13th. It is literally hot, it is summer. Talk us through these first few days of the draft. What unfolds over the weekend, and then starting on monday, the 13th. It starts, proceeds okay, and the sabotage, the sunday, there is a pause. According to, it resumes a particularly hot day, monday, july 13th. New yorkers can really visualize the streets, it begins around the second in the forties, 46 than 47. Street. The un neighborhood. Just before off the provoke martial office reopens, someone throws a brick or a cobblestone through a window of the draft office, and then sets the draft office on fire. And that is the opening round in the defiance. The mob grows, and the protesters, as it were, begin to march downtown and disrupt the draft in other places. And then this demonstration just metastasize is all over manhattan. You call them a race riots and in fact, that is what it turned into. We have an image of some of the violence that occurred. Who were in these mobs . How did the mobs target . The targeting, and this is going to sound eerily familiar, when anger boiled over, irrational decisions are sometimes made. And brooks brothers, for example, was called and looted. Stores were targeted. Abolitionists and leading republicans were targeted. The mayors house was attacked. Police officers were beaten. Newspapers were attacked, republican papers, but as you said, the ugly truth is that it turned into the race riots early on, an African American child was beaten right near city hall on chambers street and broadway. And the mob, as it grew, as it intensified, began attacking prostitutes who were known to entertain black men as clients, interracial covers couples who lived on the Lower West Side of manhattan. And ultimately, African Americans would just drive from carriages chase down from streets. Some were driven off the docks and just round. And in this infamous scene, won African American was lynched, set of fire and then dragged through the streets. It was hideous. There was sexual mutilation going on, open, blatant murder without punishment, and any time the police did try to intervene to protect new yorkers of color, the mob turned its wrath on the police. As well. We have another image, actually, of the police at the tribune office. I believe that is next up. Describe some details from these four days. And by july 17th, what happens . It was also an anti press riots, as i mentioned. And the two leading, pro lincoln papers are sitting just south of City Hall Park. It is called newspaper row. And here, you see a crowd being dispersed. So crowds menace the New York Times and the new york tribune. Both newspapers armed themselves. Henry raymond, the founder of the times, was on the roof of his building with his investor, Leonard Jerome, and if that name sounds familiar, he had a nine year old daughter named jenny who is destined to be the mother of winston churchill. But Leonard Jerome and Henry Raymond were on the roof of the times with a gambling gun, aiming at protesters who were threatening the papers. The new york tribune armed itself with munitions and grenades. Eventually, this mob, youll see that some of the characters are blatantly anti irish. Eventually, they did crashed through the downstairs of the tribune, which was reserved for subscriptions and papers and adds. They set fire to this room, its called the county room. And then an army of new york police came out of the darkness, down from City Hall Park south, and attack to the mob and dispersed them. So the attempt to interfere with progressive newspapers was blatant also. And this is just one of the scenes that took place in july. As you point out, fact a male and female riot. Women mostly dug cobblestones out of the pavement and then gave it to their men to hurl through the streets. And this went on down the lower westside. 59th street, there was a lot of writing on across 59th street. Central park was being built. Ultimately, Abraham Lincoln was totally silent on this. The governor was sort of friendly to the riders, because he called that my friends, but ultimately, lincoln authorized the deployment of, and this is going to sound eerily familiar again, the deployment of federal troops, who were dispatched from the gettysburg area north on trains, and they ultimately fired their weapons downtown, and that ended the rights. We have other images, one more image, of fires, there were lots of burning buildings under such rights. Heres the army, facing off against the riders. I think the rioters here are a little better arms, to give you a sense of the chaos. We will never know the fatality rate. They say there were 120 deaths and 8000 injuries. That is a lot in 1863, when you do it as a portion of the population. But i dont believe the 120 figure. I dont think African Americans who were pushed off the docks recounted, and people whose bodies were burned werent counted, so i would say it was ten times as high as we have been led to believe. What happened to that 300dollar bounty provision in the aftermath of these riots . Just as a kind of quota . The bill was corrected. It is possible direct to correct legislation, before it was corrected, a democratic mayor the, new democratic mayor of new york city passed a bill in city council to have new york city pay the 300 dollar bounty to anyone who didnt want to serve, the 300 dollar exemption fee. So the city ultimately bore the expense to protect protesters and anti war demonstrators. It was a mess. But a lot of African Americans actually did sign up voluntarily, though. Absolutely. African american new yorkers had to find other places to volunteer because new york didnt raise its first black troops until september 64. The mess, the burned and the sacking, all of that stuff was turned into rivers and thrown out. Its amazing that this draft will survived. And then the buildings might have been torn down, structures took their place, we want to really look deeper into the human toll of this disturbance. This disturbing violence in memory. The second object of the evening really does speak to this, in a really poignant and emotional to and tragic way. We see our second object. It is a rear book, and give us some background for this, please, harold. And this is an emotional story. To be sure. This bible is an original bible that was used at the socalled colored orphan asylum. An institution for African American orphans that was founded about ten years before the draft rant and it was considered a model for the care of children. It had playrooms, it had an area, it had gardens, it had sleeping quarters with very big windows to provide ventilation. It had good food, it had teachers, and it had a population of orphans who actually, one of them went on to fight in the fabled 54th massachusetts regiment, and achieved glory. At fort wagner. At the same moment, july 18th, 63, fort wagner, when African Americans died in huge, disproportionate numbers, defending the union. This bible was used inside the asylum and, i wont yet give away the story of why its showing. The orphanage island was founded by quaker women from the new York Mission Society in the 18 thirties, and then moved to this wonderful location in 1843. It was on fifth avenue and 43rd street. It was the northwest corner and the biggest landmark nearby was not the New York Public Library but the big reservoir, the new york reservoir that stood on site. Of the library, it was a wonderful part of town, and people would come and look at this Model Institution as a charitable good work, of which many people are proud. We have an image of some of the children playing in the garden there. Pretty famous image, its a collection and historical. Its a great image, and its probably the year before the draft riots. Talk us through july 13th, 1863. And that was the initial afternoon of the writing, and what happened outside the asylum. On july 13th, a large mob of maybe 1000 or more people massed outside of the orphan asylum, if we can see the next slide, youll see what happened. The building was breached, it was looted, rioters carried off the beautiful beds and mattresses, but not before they took enough straw out of the mattress is to use his killing, because they said the building on fire. And here is an artists rendering of this horrific scene. If you wonder. Where the African American children are are, that is the agonizingly heartbreaking, horrific story. There were 233 children, and they were all trapped inside when this place began, with rioters outside, taunting the teachers to bring the kids outside so they could be killed. And that is the moment when, we dont know whether it was a teacher or a little girl, there are many legends about what happened next, but i like to think it was this one, precious, brave little girl who said, isnt that the bible you always told us to follow . And then the teacher picked it up and said, with smoke in the room, children, follow me out. And they got outside, very quietly, and these children heard unbearably horrible sounds as they made it outside. But there were a few people who sheltered these kids. Some of them just dispersed and were taken in by white families in their brownstones. A young irish kid took some of them down to a police precinct. And we dont know that there were any casualties, except the near miss, near disaster, and emotional scars that this undoubtedly left on a lot of people. Just harrowing, the imagery. We have another image which looks a little more benign than this, but it shows the bucolic nature of this site. But in the foreground, obviously some violence. Flames and smoke. And it is not quite as vivid. Dramatic. Clearly, a huge news event and the great shame on the city. I should say, there were religious leaders who tried very hard to stop this from turning out the way it did, protestants, catholics. Protestant churches were targeted, leading africanamericans. Henry highland garnet was a great black orator who lived in manhattan. His daughter, when she heard the rumblings, went outside and pried his nameplate off of his door, which probably saved his life. Horace greeley, the editor of the tribune, walked into the crowd and was beaten up. So this was absolutely the low point of new york history, i think. Repeating. By the way, i think this is a serious problem for us in memory, as we have heard in the past two days as we speak, of more confederate statues being earmarked for removal. And there is no monument or plaque that attests to the draft riots, and the toll they took on the honor and civility and lives of new york and new yorkers. We have to have a movement to remember even unpleasant parts of our history, because ultimately, if they didnt make us better right away, at least they struck appropriate shame into the hearts of the rest of new yorkers. It is hard to tell, we assume there were no casualties, but how can i say this . How can i say this, black lives didnt matter in 1863, even in new york. I dont have any faith in the actual account. We think most of the Young Children were rescued. One important thing was saved, and it was this bible. We have the inscription blown up so you can see the inside of that object. And there is something almost chilling about seeing the charred edges and the inscription. It is said this bible was in the asylum before the destruction of the asylum on fifth avenue by the rioters. It is charred around the edges, which, as you said at the beginning, objects cant testify historically and emotionally to events. I dont think there is a more powerful relic in the collection than this. And all the records of the colored orphan asylum went to the New York Historical society, which, i got to read so many minutes of the meetings before and after the riots. Imagine that. And you can hold up the bible, and it will do some good. It is not just a photo opportunity. Think of a Child Holding this bible as a beacon in a building filled with smoke and flames, to get children to escape into another mob. It is almost unimaginable. If we get a look at the next slide, i am sure there are members of the century club on our call and zoom today, the brick wall in the background of this photo is the century club. And this is a vacant lot. The owner had gone bust trying to build a gigantic office tower here, so it is still a vacant lot. I would love to see a sign one day testing to this event. By the way, the orphan asylum never built here. It was decided the town of manhattan was not safe for an africanamerican institution, so they moved progressively up, eventually to harlem, then they moved to riverdale, and the colored orphan asylum building in riverdale ultimately became a hebrew home for the aged. So it is a multigeneral a multigenerational transformation, but always devoted to care, interestingly. We are ready for our q a. Was the civil war acceptable . There was no conscription in the civil war. It was introduced by Abraham Lincoln. This was the first time. And again, the rich mans invention was a big mistake and was never employed again. Did the wealthy flee during the riots . There wasnt as much mobility as there is now. When we did the lincoln in new york exhibition, we come across accounts of people who were terrorized and hid in their attics. Most of the rioters who went after private homes were interested in property, and we found a great story of people finding engraved portraits of Abraham Lincoln and summits home and throwing them out the window, and then seeing Abraham Lincoln in someones home, and throwing them out the window, and then seeing them trampled in the streets. One person got out of town and went to his country home in chappaqua. Why were black men not eligible for conscription . So black men were eligible for conscription and enlistment. The new york culture was not yet ready to organize black regiments. You dont just join the union army, you have to sign up for a regiment. And new yorks early tradition was ethnic regiments, the irish brigade, fighting 69th, germanamerican regiments, the seventh regiment. We know where the armory is today, that was the elite regiment of wealthy people. So you had to attach yourself to a regiment, and not until the Union League Club organized an africanamerican regiment in 1864. By the way, they had to be training on, i think, governors island, because people were so petrified of africanamericans arming themselves in what was essentially a whitedominated town. So africanamericans are eligible to serve in union forces officially bearing arms, and around the same time, march 1863, when congress legislates the desire expressed in the emancipation proclamation, to open the services to africanamericans. Next question. Is it not true that new york state contributed more soldiers and suffered more casualties than any other state during the civil war, north or south . Yes. 10 of the casualties, the union casualties, came from new york state. And also materiel investment. New york, for a time, escaped the destruction that the south was visited upon because of initiating the war, but the new york draft riots reminded people that the war could come to backyards in northern cities. And new yorks draft riot was certainly the worst, as you said, the worst civil disturbance in america save for the civil war itself, there were draft riots in connecticut, in the midwest, no one wanted to be drafted, especially with that rich mans exemption. So it got out of hand, most violently and most horrendously. It was reported to by the press this is in a way related, a question about the irish. Did the treatment of the irish by the english contribute to the irish rage, there is talk of the irish rage in the draft riot. Not pretending to be an expert, but yes. These are survivors of the oppression of the english, starving people in ireland. Many had come to new york and the new world seeking opportunities. They were treated badly. They were treated as secondclass citizens. The Democratic Party very cleverly, from the 1840s on, pushed them to register in the Democratic Party. And as a result, many elites demonized the entire Democratic Party is a party of ruffians. But all of the canards and cliches about the irish, drinking, hooliganism, were created during this period. Was it a mostly irishamerican riot . One would have to say it was, but it was a largely irishamerican population that was being subjected to this unfair draft. The racism, of course, inexcusable and people who have experienced prejudice should not visit prejudice on others, but it happens. Were they able to raise what was needed . Yes. They raised the troops and raised another 400,000 the following year. So the draft worked. There was also recruitment, and a feeling of soldiers that were needed, and the quotas were filled by a combination of volunteering. There was a war spirit, especially after the proclamation, to end slavery. And new yorkers contributed to that fight, as did irishamerican brigades. The irishamerican troops fought at gettysburg heroically. We dont want to tarnish an entire group here, because the courage was manifest across all ethnic lines during the civil war. The current climate in new york and across the country is on peoples minds. One question that emerged is, how did the mayor and governor of the state respond then . And does that shed light on how they should respond now . Well, the mayor was attacked pretty early, mayor updike. Governor tilden was a democrat, and he was opposed to the draft and had spoken out pretty viciously against the draft. It is political, he can say what he wants, but during the outbreak of the riots, to his credit, as an act of bravery, he came into the middle of one of the demonstrations and tried to quell the riots. But he did it with an unfortunate phrase that came back to haunt him. He started by saying, my friends. And after that, all of the press around the country branded him as an appeaser. The my friends phrase followed him all the way to his president ial candidacy 13 years later, when he won the popular vote but was robbed of the electoral vote in florida, talking about history. And the Supreme Court decided it. So both of them were on the scene, so they were very much in the thick of things, both mayor and governor, and they did not see i to i, which is another new york tradition, i suppose. Apparently so. Any photographs of the riots in the collection . I dont know about you, but i have never seen a photograph. Keep in mind, civil war photography was a booming, booming industry. It is the first war to be recorded by cameras. But i have only seen one or two battle photographs of the entire civil war. When a battle was raging and bullets were flying and artillery was firing, it was not a good idea to put your head under a covering and peer into a glass lens. That was dangerous. So all the photos we see are portraits and camp scenes and burial scenes, and no photographer went out in battle to take a picture. Although i have been proven wrong before. If anyone out there has seen one, let us know. The Historical Society needs that image for the collection. Absolutely, but there was no combat photography at that time for obvious reasons. Did the confederate government have anything to do with stirring up rioters . Abraham lincoln said after the draft riots that, we have two volcanoes to deal with. I dont think the confederacy encouraged it. They were doing a draft as well. They were drafting older people. And younger people. If you could walk reasonably well, you would be drafted into the confederacy. Those who opposed emancipation as a rationale for the war, they were violently opposed to a draft that was going to be used for africanamerican freedom. A couple of days before the draft, a week before the draft riots, while the battle of gettysburg was raging, mary lincoln was in a carriage accident outside their summer home near washington. She was thrown from the carriage when the wheel fell off. I believe it was an assassination attempt against lincoln. She hit her head on a rock and the wound became infected. Abraham lincoln was awaiting news from vicksburg and she is in trouble. And Robert Lincoln was at harvard, got a message that his mother had been in an accident and she needs you. Robert lincoln left cambridge and came to washington and while he got here, came all this excitement that was happening. So he stayed and watched the draft riots. By now he knows the disturbances are taking place, and lincoln says, why did i not hear from you . And the answer is, a young man, not quite 20, if he had to choose between an exciting event or taking care of his mother, chose the exciting event. He finally left when the riots were just about over. I wish i had a terrific answer to your question. I havent seen any diary or letter references to the disturbances around the country, but the people in the field would i think have been horrified by what they would perceive as a lack of patriotism and willingness to join the battle to save the union and free the slaves. I wish we could have ended on a question where i had real evidence. One more question. Thank goodness you got to that. The answer is no. They were wildly exaggerated. Although, i have to say the scene of arnhems museum outside city hall, it was attacked. But it dont think the lions and tigers, i dont think there were any animals running across the town of manhattan. And there were no gunboats firing. That was an exaggeration. The union navy did not order ships to fire on the city. That would have been totally crazy. There was restraint. By the way, i was a behind the scenes advisor to gangs of new york, although i didnt have as much to do with it as i did with the lincoln movie. If anybody sees my name, i participated in it. Sorry. We are about out of time. Always, in these programs. This happen. Absolutely. Great objects. Learn more about the people and events that shaped the civil war and reconstruction, every saturday at 6 00 p. M. Eastern, only on American History tv here on cspan3. music [fife and drum i will start off with a word of warning, when i compiled the information i want to share with you this evening the first time i went through, it i stood for an hour and a half with. I hope you are all comfortable it might take a while. Im just getting cozy dont get mad at me