“Race, Class and Violence: The New York Draft Riots of 1863”

The following comes from a press release from the organization:

The Southeast Museum will present a lecture by Durahn Taylor on Race, Class and Violence: The New York Draft Riots of 1863. Free and open to the general public, the event begins at 2PM on October 1, 2011 at Southeast Museum.  This event is made possible through Speakers in the Humanities, a program of the New York Council for the Humanities.  Speakers in the Humanities lectures are made possible with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the New York State Legislature, and through funds from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Race, Class and Violence: The New York Draft Riots of 1863

A lecture by Durahn Taylor

The 1863 New York Draft Riots exposed rifts within the North that were as deep as those that existed between the North and the South. There were rivalries between Irish and African-American laborers who shared the lowest rung on New York's economic ladder, fights between Irish gangs and gangs of other ethnic groups, and hostilities between poor New Yorkers and rich New Yorkers who could buy their way out of the Union Army draft. These tensions resulted in one of the bloodiest urban uprisings in American history. Understanding the social and economic causes of the riots as well as the effects of the riots on subsequent New York history helps us appreciate that even in the North, support for the Union cause was not unanimous but a bitterly contested issue. The riots illustrate that the nation's conflicts over race and labor were not on sectional grounds alone.

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The New York Council for the Humanities is a not-for-profit, independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Through statewide collaborations, and programs and services that encourage imaginative thinking and critical inquiry, the Council works to ensure that the humanities are present in the intellectual and cultural life of every New Yorker.

Organization’s Contact Information

Southeast Museum, 67 Main Street, Brewster, NY 10509, 845-279-7500; www.southeastmuseum.org