Paramilitary Groups, Riots on the Streets of New York City
The estimable Richard Rabinowitz has another history exhibit on display at the New-York Historical Society. The subject is Abraham Lincoln’s first visit to New York. This is a fascinating tidbit from the review in The New York Times:
Lincoln’s supporters formed an organization, the Wide Awakes, with its own paramilitary uniforms and songs. In 1860 30,000 Wide Awakes marched in a five-hour torchlight parade through New York City streets; one of their torches, amazingly, is on display here.
And later in the same piece:
…in July 1863, that war of words turned bloody. A telegram from the Republican financier John Jay to Lincoln announced, “Our City is at the mercy of a mob.” In four days of riots, partly inspired by opposition to military conscription and its exemptions for the wealthy, looting and destruction were aimed not only at Republicans like Greeley but also at black New Yorkers. The Colored Orphan Asylum was pillaged and burned, and the Colored Sailors’ Home was attacked. An order from Lincoln (displayed here), following close on the heels of the battle at Gettysburg, declared martial law.
Calm was restored, but with 120 dead and 2,000 injured, the exhibition notes, it was “the worst civil disorder in the nation’s history — except for the Civil War itself.”
Useful perspective next time someone says that the nation is as polarized as it’s ever been.
Yes, the polarization level is still slightly short of actual Civil War. That’s … comforting.
— Bo · Oct 17, 02:31 AM · #
Also, people who call Bush or Obama a fascist should check out some of the abuses Lincoln perpetrated; suspending habeas corpus only scratches the surface. My favorite bit of Copperhead history is Gen. Burnside’s General Order Number 38, which made it a crime to criticize the war effort. One politician was arrested under this order for criticizing the order itself.
— Bo · Oct 17, 02:48 AM · #
Just to add to Bo’s comment, the Civil War dead, as a percent of population, would be equivalent to something south of 6 million today. And that’s just men at arms. So, yes, comforting. To be fair to Lincoln, I suspect that once casualties blew past 5 million, any current President would begin to claim exceptional powers. (Torture, probably.)
— K · Oct 17, 08:23 AM · #
Never seen Gangs of New York? That’s pretty much the setting.
Also, Daniel Day Lewis. Money.
— sidereal · Oct 18, 05:12 AM · #
New York City has a fascinating history of armed private militias loyal to politicians, business interests, and class/ethnic groups.
— Erik Vanderhoff · Oct 19, 04:41 PM · #