1863 draft riots were driven by fear of black labor competition after emancipation

Evidence

The wars along the docks led directly to the so-called draft riots of 1863 in New York. Although they were triggered by the draft, their underlying cause was the opposition by Irish unskilled laborers to a war they feared would result in their being forced to compete with black workers in a free labor market. The riots were the coda to the theme with which this chapter began—and the most dramatic illustration of how the laborer McManus acquired the will and power to help the newcomer O’Rourke find employment in the new country. — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 439

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Fear of rebellion produced harsher Black codes rather than emancipation — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The…, 401; Post-emancipation black success provoked sanctioned convict labor and mob violence; Black leaders in 1865 predicted persistent Southern prejudice against them (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Racism steered American industrial workers toward counterrevolution in the Civil War #expands (0.80)
• Fear of rebellion produced harsher Black codes rather than emancipation #corroborates (0.75) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 401
• Post-emancipation black success provoked sanctioned convict labor and mob violence #expands (0.75)
• Black leaders in 1865 predicted persistent Southern prejudice against them #corroborates (0.72)