1863 Draft riots continue to rock New York City july 13 – 16th


The draft riots enter their fourth day in New York City in response to the Enrollment Act, which was enacted on March 3, 1863. Although avoiding military service became much more difficult, wealthier citizens could still pay a commutation fee of $300 to stay at home. Irritation with the draft dovetailed with opposition to the Emancipation Proclamation of September 1862, which made abolition of slavery the central goal of the war for the Union. Particularly vocal in their opposition were the Democratic Irish, who felt the war was being forced upon them by Protestant Republicans and feared that emancipation of formerly enslaved people would jeopardize their jobs. 

Discontent simmered until the draft began among the Irish New Yorkers on July 11. Two days later, a mob burned the draft office, triggering nearly five days of violence. At first, the targets included local newspapers, wealthy homes, well-dressed men, and police officers, but the crowd’s attention soon turned to African Americans. Several Black people were lynched, and businesses employing Black people were burned. A Black orphanage was also burned, but the children escaped.

Not until July 17 was the violence contained by the arrival of Union troops, some fresh from the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. More than 1,000 people died and property damage topped $2 million. The draft was temporarily suspended, and a revised conscription began in August. As a result of the riots and the delicate political balance in the city, relatively few New Yorkers were forced to serve in the Union army.

Citation Information

Article Title

Draft riots continue to rock New York City

AuthorHistory.com Editors

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HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/draft-riots-continue-to-rock-new-york-city

Access Date

July 15, 2022

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

July 13, 2020

Original Published Dat

Denying access to whole groups can be a Constitutional problem


The Constitution doesn’t guarantee any one method of voting, but it does guarantee that states cannot create rules that unreasonably burden the right to vote — especially when those burdens fall hardest on identifiable groups.

Courts look at patterns like:

  • Disabled voters who physically cannot vote in person
  • People without cars in areas with no public transit
  • Workers who can’t leave their jobs without losing pay
  • Low‑income voters who face multiple overlapping barriers
  • Seniors with mobility or health limitations
  • Students who live far from their registration address

When a rule disproportionately harms these groups, courts ask:

Is the burden severe enough that it effectively denies these people the right to vote?

Sources: internet

What Constitutional Rights Do Undocumented Immigrants have?


Undocumented immigrants inside the United States have several key rights, including:

** The right to a hearing before deportation;
** The right to apply for asylum or other forms of protection;
** The right to be represented by legal counsel at their own expense;
** The right to challenge unlawful government actions;
Protection against indefinite detention.

Source: forbes.com

on this day … 7/15 1901 – Over 74,000 Pittsburgh steel workers went on strike. 


1099 – Jerusalem fell to the Crusaders.

1410 – Poles and Lithuanians defeated the Teutonic knights at Tannenburg, Prussia.

1789 – The electors of Paris set up a “Commune” to live without the authority of the government.

1806 – Lieutenant Zebulon Pike began his western expedition from Fort Belle Fountaine, near St. Louis, MO.

1813 – Napoleon Bonaparte’s representatives met with the Allies in Prague to discuss peace terms.

1834 – Lord Napier of England arrived in Macao, China as the first chief superintendent of trade.

1870 – Georgia became the last of the Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.

1876 – George Washington Bradley of St. Louis pitched the first no-hitter in baseball in a 2-0 win over Hartford.

1885 – In New York, the Niagara Reservation State Park opened.

1888 – “Printers’ Ink” was first sold.

1895 – Ex-prime minister of Bulgaria, Stephen Stambulov, was murdered by Macedonian rebels.

1901 – Over 74,000 Pittsburgh steel workers went on strike. 

1904 – The first Buddhist temple in the U.S. was established in Los Angeles, CA.

1916 – In Seattle, WA, Pacific Aero Products was incorporated by William Boeing. The company was later renamed Boeing Co.

1918 – The Second Battle of the Marne began during World War I.

1922 – The duck-billed platypus arrived in America, direct from Australia. It was exhibited at the Bronx Zoo in New York City.

1942 – The first supply flight from India to China over the ‘Hump’ was carried to help China’s war effort.

1958 – Five thousand U.S. Marines landed in Beirut, Lebanon, to protect the pro-Western government. The troops withdrew October 25, 1958.

1965 – The spacecraft Mariner IV sent back the first close-up pictures of the planet Mars. 

1968 – Commercial air travel began between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., when the first plane, a Soviet Aeroflot jet, landed at Kennedy International Airport in New York. 

1971 – U.S. President Nixon announced he would visit the People’s Republic of China to seek a “normalization of relations.”

1972 – NASA’s Pioneer 10 spacecraft became the first to enter the asteroid belt. 

1973 – Nolan Ryan (California Angels) became the first pitcher in two decades to win two no-hitters in a season. (California)

1985 – Baseball players voted to strike on August 6th if no contract was reached with baseball owners. The strike turned out to be just a one-day interruption.

1987 – Taiwan ended thirty-seven years of martial law.

2006 – The social networking service Twitter was launched.

2009 – “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” was released in theaters in the U.S. It was the sixth movie in the series.

2011 – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” was released in theaters in the U.S. and U.K. It was the final film in the Harry Potter series.

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