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The Devil's Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America

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Well, I'm only on page 110, but I couldn't resist being the first reader reviewer (disclosure: Barnet and I went to school together). This is a highly engaging and detailed account of the urban paroxysm of 1863, but it's more than that. Having chronicled the siege of New York during the Revolutionary War in his first book, Schecter has turned to the second of the city's three major conflagrations (the third being of course 9/11, with the nearly bloodless English victory over the Dutch in 1664 not really counting) and has produced an essential addition to any self-respecting shelf on the world's greatest city.

Many people these days may have formed their main impressions of the riots from the last scenes of Martin Scorsese's film "Gangs of New York." The reality given here is quite different but even more shocking. And although "The Devil's Own Work" is similarly peopled by colorful and often grotesque characters, its mood is if anything more like Luc Sante's books, or like the original "Gangs" by Herbert Asbury. More importantly, Schecter's book is incisive and very readable military history. One of the book's most thoughtful features is a "walking tour" appendix which points out almost all the key locations in the text, some of which are still enough like their 1864 selves to give you a touch of the time-traveler's shiver -- or is it more of a prescient apprehension that events very much like these could easily happen here again?

This bit of American history was unknown to me until I read this book. That alone made it worthwhile. Why it remains under-reported is unclear, but anyone who wants to expand their knowledge of the Civil War beyond the Ken Burns basics should grab this book.

Especially interesting were the descriptions of living conditions in New York, the rabble-rousing, solicitous nature of democratic politicians and the history of urban violence. Many will find irony in the fact that at that time, the Republican party was considered socially liberal and had the support on New York's newspapers.

The only fault I can find with this book is its sometime tedious treatment of minor events and details of the week-long riot. The reader can easily fix that by skipping pages and quickly get caught up in the flow of events. The immensity of detail makes that easy.

Barnet Schecter's new book is much more than an in-depth examination of one of America's most deadly civil disturbances, it is a tour de force rendering of the many problems the newly "Re-United" States suffered through during the entire Reconstruction Era (1865-1877).

Schecter's exhaustive look at the real causes behind the July 1863 'Draft' Riots is certain to make this book the definitive account of those several tragic days; yet, he doesn't end his compelling story when authorities finally -- with the help of Federal troops -- brought the violence to a halt on July 17, 1863. Schecter traces the post-riot effects that the economic, racial and political forces unleashed during the riots had on the attempts to 'reconstruct' the South and achieve social justice for all Americans during the Reconstruction Era. The research is impeccable, the narrative is compelling and the entire book is an outstanding 'window on the past,' chronicling an entire era.

Supplementing this 'must-have' book is a delightful appendix, the author's 'Walking Tour Guide to Civil War New York' that readers may use to discover the surprising history of that era still to be found in America's greatest city.

I enthusiastically recommend Barnet Schecter's outstanding new book, as well as his previous book, "The Battle for New York," an outstanding account of Washington's battles from Long Island/Brooklyn to Ft. Washington during the Revolutionary War in 1776. Like "Civil War Draft Riots," Schecter has provided an informative and very interesting walking tour guide for "The Battle for New York" (also available on amazon).

The Devil's Own Work by Barnet Schecter is a highly informative book on the New York City Draft Riots of July 1863. In addition, he focuses on the events leading up to and resulted after the riots, who some of the participants were, and what legacy this period of American history has left. The subtitle also points out that the Reconstruction period is the other main focus of his book, which he believes began with the Emancipation Proclamation.

The first part of the book seems a bit disjointed at times as he tries to discuss so many events occurring around the same time frame of the New York riots, as well as previous events that led up to the Civil War and the growing racial and class tensions that would most notably erupt in New York City. Schecter properly gives us this context to view the events leading up to the riots as well as events playing out in the national crisis. We get a brief discussion of the military campaigns between the Union armies and Lee's forces, a history of events that led up to the Civil War and the growing class differences that were emerging in many urban settings like New York. Some of these periods and events he includes are Andrew Jackson's attack on the bank and the rise of capitalism, the wave of immigrants coming into New York, the birth of the Republican party and the growing divisions in the Democratic party, and so forth.

Schecter is effective in showing us the divisions between the politics playing out in the North during the war. We learn of the Lincoln Administration efforts to win the war and its eventual support of Emancipation for blacks, the role of the Radical Republicans, War Democrats and Peace Democrats, and of course those well known Copperheads who often sympathized with the South and were fierce critics of the Lincoln Administration and the effort to liberate blacks. But in addition to national politics, there is a great focus on the politics of New York City, a bedrock of Democratic strength. Schecter gives us a good summary of the editorial rivalries, the rise of Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed, various mayors and leaders like Fernando Wood, Gov. Seymour, and so many others, and the role blacks, Irish Americans, and others played in the city's politics and how growing conflict was mounting.

That aspect of the Conscription Act that Schecter states had a huge impact on the emerging conflict in New York(the $300 that could be paid to be exempted from serving) was ably exploited by agitators including some of the Copperheads to issue a call of resistance saying this was against the poor workers (especially the Irish) who were already suffering heavy casualties in the war and was unfair to the city in terms of meeting a quota for troops. The issue of black emancipation and black competition for Northern jobs was also exploited by some of the more racist agitators. Many city and state leaders were slow in trying to stop the potential eruption that would occur once the draft call began.

Needless to say, rioting took on its large scale form in the middle of July (ironically at the same time Lee had been defeated at Gettysburg and in the West, Vicksburg had fallen into Union hands). For several days, large scale property destruction, beatings and murders of blacks who happened to venture out alone on the streets, conflicts between the police and state troops and rioters (with more damage done to the rioters), all gave New York the appearance of a city bordering on complete anarchy. To be clear, there were leaders who behaved bravely and nobly while others acted with very little concern or acted to slowly. Some Copperheads and Southerners like Edmund Ruffin saw this as an opportunity to turn the war to the South's advantage by dividing the North and instigating more riots, thus prompting its population to call for peace and recognition of the Southern government. Schecter is very good in describing the rioting from one day to the next and how they moved about. We also get to see it very clearly through the eyes of the witnesses who were active in one way or the other or watched as spectators. Order was restored with the help of military regiments who marched back to the city after the battle of Gettysburg. Throughout the course of the remainder of the war, there would be no further massive rioting as New York had seen, though there would be other racial conflicts in other areas in years to come.

The author ably shows us who some of the major players were in these events both in New York during the riots and those who would become influential in the years following these events. Horace Greeley, Manton Marble, various city, state and military officials, politicians who would rise and fall, locals and ordinary folks who were affected by the riots, influential religious leaders in the Catholic and black congregations and so many others. The years following the end of the War and the Reconstruction efforts in the South to help educate and enfranchise blacks and the failures that resulted, the efforts or lack of from Presidents, Congress, and state officials to secure basic equality for all our citizens, and the growing class gap most evidenced in the Gilded Age are at least partly touched on to give us a glimpse of how the racial and class conflicts most discussed by the author in the New York draft riots would continue to haunt Americans for some time to come.

This is an absorbing narrative that is very effective in putting these riots in a national context. The descriptions of the events surrounding the riots are also well written. This is the only book solely on the riots that I've read so I can't offer a good comparative analysis, but this is a valuable book on the subject.

Thank heavens for independent scholars!

Barnet Schecter is rapidly becoming one of the best chroniclers of New York's history. His previous book, "The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution", was an eye-opening revelation at how this city was the true "heart" of our separation from England, and how we (and Boston, as well) were that country's main target for conquest in 1776. Utilizing the same narrative style of writing, Barnet Schecter tackles the week-long convulsion in New York City four score and seven years later.

"The Devil's Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America" fills a void in most histories of the Civil War: the fighting that took place OFF the battlefields of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, etc. These were the wars that were waged in newspapers, city halls, and, ultimately, the streets of major cities across America. Mr. Schecter is careful to explain that the New York City draft riots were not the only anti-war, anti-emancipation riots during the Civil War. But it was the largest. It was the worst. (While most New York historians claim that around 100 people were killed during the riots, Mr. Schecter rightfully, I believe, puts the number at 500, at the very least.)

The actual riots occupy only the middle one hundred or so pages of the book. Mr. Schecter devotes an appropriate amount of time to examining the roots of the riots: the racism, the class animosities, the mistrust between Nativists and immigrants, and so on. In the weeks and months immediately before the cataclysm, we see battle lines being drawn: Greeley vs. Marble, Democrats vs. Republicans, poor whites vs. poor blacks; in fact, it seems like it was almost everyone vs. the beseiged African-American population. When the five days of rioting are discussed, the sense of prevailing confusion and chaos--the near anarchy--are as expertly conveyed as the awful scenes of violence. The final third of the book is, in many ways, more tragic than the uprising. It is here where Mr. Schecter discusses the aftermath of the riots over the next two decades. Basically, the reconstruction of America fails. The North and the South do not fully unify. The working class does not get the respect it deserves. (Instead, it is treated with more brutality and unfairness.) Worst of all, African-Americans are not truly emancipated. The enmity and violence visited upon them, because they are never addressed, just worsens. And why were they never addressed? Mr. Barnet just comes out and says it: because most people never really wanted to. Therefore, it would takes decades before America would heal or truly reconstruct.

"The Devil's Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America" is a sobering book, true, but it holds our fascination. The details about the quirky politicians, newspapermen, observers and participants breathe life into people who have been dead for almost 150 years. The maps and generous sprinkling of illustrations help us see the people and places more clearly. This is a monumental book for which Barnet Schecter deserves our appreciation.

Also recommended: Iver Bernstein's "The New York Civil War Draft Riots". Although not written in a narrative style, it contains valuable information about the causes of the riots. For a fictional treatment, Peter Quinn's novel, "Banished Children of Eve" is the best I have ever read.

Barnet Schecter's magisterial study of the five day insurrection that erupted in New York City, "The Devil's Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America", is one of those historical accounts that illuminate more than just the times the work is set in. By providing a multilayered analysis to the issues that marked this breakdown of social order, and through a deft, perfect-pitch, use of basic sources, Mr. Schecter lets the contemporary voices of those living through these events and, at times, driving them, speak for themselves. The result is a tableau of compelling immediacy that is rarely seen in a historical study. Some of the expected characters are here: Lincoln, Seward and Lee, etc. but it is the less well-known characters of that era that permit the real force of the book to be felt. By knitting together and contrasting the recorded dialogue of the restive ferment of the slums of New York and Boston with the tense interchanges originating in the mahoganied board-rooms of these same cities Mr. Schecter recreates the social tensions of these turbulent times. With what seems to be an unerring sense of how the character of a subject will define for him the peculiar social reality that he may act in, we meet figures who by virtue of the author's skill and sympathy are never rendered as simple, one-dimensional heroes or villains. Landmark works in any field of study require that a sense of scope, sensitivity and balance be observed throughout the effort. But such traits alone cannot mark it as memorable. For this the electricity of personal exchanges in statehouses, boardrooms and back alleys must be captured in their raw force and then be woven in into a narrative that flows with seeming effortlessness, from it its own momentum. This is what Mr. Schecter has accomplished.

The Draft Riots that occurred in New York City (and other locations throughout the country as well, but mainly in NYC) have to represent the low point for the Union during the Civil War, what with their happening only a week or so after the great victory at Gettysburg. They were almost a civil war within the Civil War and ended only after Federal troops were compelled to fire upon and kill over a thousand of their own citizens. Barnet Schecter's account of these riots is a masterful piece of historical writing.

The Riots broke out after the Enrollment Act was passed in March 1863, which called upon the states to raise 300,000 troops for the war; a nasty little provision allowed anyone with $300 to "buy" a replacement for himself, which added class and racial differences to who would have to fight in the war. (The fact that many of the rioters attacked blacks during their rampaging was probably in part a built-up reaction to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on Jan. 1, 1863, and for many in the North seemed to alter the purpose of the war from a states-rights vs. preserve-the-Union issue to one of freeing the slaves, an unpopular idea, especially in heavily Democratic New York.) By the middle of July, 50,000 rioters had taken to the streets of NYC, burning and destroying much property, including churches, private homes (many owned by African Americans), the offices of the N.Y."Tribune," and, most tragically, a black orphanage that displaced over 230 children. Troops were called up from the battlefields of Gettysburg to restore order, which they did, but only after much bloodshed.

Schecter rendering of all this is detailed and fascinating to read. He is an excellent writer. He also carries his theme beyond the riots themselves into the Reconstruction period. Also included in the book is a "walking tour" of NYC civil war sites for anyone interested in seeing things first-hand. Perhaps the definitive book on the Draft Riots, it's definitely worth a prominent spot on anyone's Civil War shelf.

This book reveals the reality behind draft riots of 1863 and "The Gangs Of New York." Today when we say "gangs," we usually envision young punks committing horrendous crimes, but in the bad old days, these gangs were the analog of today's organized crime and the Mafia. However, Schecter's book goes beyond that, it is richly informative and researched on its subject, and has the reminiscent feel of "you are there," of the civil war books by Bruce Catton.
The City is not the one we are familiar with, or idealize. People are in constant fear of losing their jobs; they have to put up with a seeping, filthy, overpopulated Hobbesian battlefield. Schecter uses Horace Greely as a grand example, a man solely focused on abolishing slavery, who still does not get it, oblivious (from time to time) to the impoverished working man who is bound in a subsistence slavery, with no way out and no future. What you can say about Greely is what gives the old maxim its truth: The road to hell is paved with the best intensions.
No wonder the Irish immigrants used the draft law, which permitted the rich to escape military service, for what followed; the melting pot of NYC this time is the perfect mix for rioting: racism, bigotry, and class struggle. The corrupt politicians, racist utopians, and Southern agitators, know for a certainty that they are doing The Devils Own Work, and stoke class warfare to combustion.
We also see New York's Finest, the nascent Metropolitan Police Force, with a solid sense of duty (surprising in 1863), risking their lives, again and again, out numbered, trying working day and night to save the city.
The one thing we never understand about these urban dwellers of the 19th century is that, the Lincoln Administration initiated the Homestead Act in 1862, and perhaps it was only a risky chance, but a chance nevertheless, to get out of the slums and disease, and start over. This was one sure way of avoiding the draft, and facing less danger. Still we have a mass of people sticking with the devil that they know. And we are also faced the with result of the war and end of Reconstruction in 1877: Nothing has changed, blacks in the South are still slaves except in name, and the Northern working class is still impoverished. Schecter has given us an exciting and action packed look at the home front, and enables us to see that no matter how much time goes by, the beast of corruption, is still the hand maiden of democracy. All in all this is a fantastic view of life, in America's greatest and most evil of cities.

Some books teach you something new. Some books have you look at things in a different light. This book does both. Before reading this expansive historical work, I viewed the 1863 New York riots as a reaction to the draft. This book shows that it was that and a lot more. Schecter's book analyzes the social-political situation in the United States at the time of the riots and shows how much racial relations and fears, and those who preyed on both, played a role.

This book teaches on so many levels. It serves as a 1) an complete account of the civil disturbance in New York City in 1863, 2) an overview of race relations in the United States during the Civil War and Reconstruction, and 3) a history of New York city in this pivotal time frame. It even includes a travel guide for New York, which includes all the sites related to the narrative. Well written and superbly researched, this book is a great precursor to Eric Foner's works on Reconstruction.

This is the best historical work I have read in the last few years.

Schecter's book is a great read that clearly explains the New York City draft riots and the political and ethnic issues that simmered to the point where in July 1863 Irish immigrants protested and rebelled against what they saw as an unfair draft system that had been put in place allowing $300 commutation fees and a recent Emancipation Proclamation which caused them to fear the loss of their jobs to newly freed slaves coming from the south.
It's an excellent book about a rarely discussed topic in our nation's history.