The Great Riots of New York, 1712 to 1873Headley, Joel Tyler
History
The Great Riots of New York, 1712 to 1873
Headley, Joel Tyler
Draft Riot, New York, N.Y., 1863; New York (N.Y.) -- History; Riots -- New York (State) -- New York
At an early hour crowds began to assemble in front of Clinton Hall;
but to their surprise they found a notice nailed on the door, that no
meeting would be held. Many, seeing it, returned home; but still the
crowd continued to swell to thousands, who rent the air with shouts and
threats against Garrison. Determined not to be disappointed in a meeting
of some kind, they forced their way upstairs, till the room in which
it was to be held was crammed to suffocation. The meeting was then
organized, and waited till quarter past seven, when it was moved to
adjourn to Tammany Hall. There it was again organized, and a gentleman
was about to address the crowd, when a man stepped forward to the
president, and stated that the meeting announced to be held in Clinton
Hall was at that moment under full headway in Chatham Street Chapel.
Instantly several voices shouted, "Let us go there and rout them!" But
the chairman said they had met to pass certain resolutions, and they
should attend to this business first, and then every one could do as he
liked. The resolutions were read, and after some remarks had been
made upon them, adopted, and the meeting adjourned. A portion of those
present, however, were not satisfied, but resolved to go to the chapel
and break up the meeting there. The little handful assembled within,
apprised of their approach, fled, so that when the mob arrived, the
building, though the doors were open and the lights burning, was empty.
It immediately took possession of the room, and giving a negro who was
foremost in the sport the name of one of the Abolitionists, made him
chairman. The most absurd resolutions were then offered, and carried,
when the chairman returned thanks for the honor done him amid the most
uproarious laughter, and what had threatened to be a serious riot ended
in a wild, lawless frolic.
This was the beginning of the Abolition riots in New York City,
which afterwards, to a greater or less extent, prevailed for years in
different parts of the Union.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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