As the rioting in New York City spread, African-Americans swiftly became targets for working-class, mostly Irish, resentment. Black men were lynched and in an horrific attack starting around 4 p.m., the Colored Orphans' Asylum at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue, then housing 233 children, was looted and then burned. Happily, police efforts helped all of the children to escape, although some were beaten by the hysterical crowds. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Rolando Avilla, "New York Draft Riots (1863)," in Steven Danver (ed.), Revolts, Protests, Demonstrations, and Rebellions in American History: An Encyclopedia (New York: ABC-CLIO, 2011), I: 435-450.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Crime/Disasters
Relevance
Major
