58: Conscription & Riots (“A Rich Man’s War, But a Poor Man’s Fight”)

History That Doesn't Suck

ProfGregJackson

Education, History, Society & Culture

4.5 • 5.1K Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2020

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

“Here’s a damned abolitionist! … He’s a Tribune man! Hang the son of a b****!” This is the story of Civil War conscription and riots. Conscription is completely foreign to Americans. They’ve never relied on force to fill the military’s ranks. But the Civil War is changing that. Left with the choice to either give up or draft men in the army, the Confederacy, then the United States, both turn to conscription. When it appears that the burden of fighting will fall disproportionately on the shoulders of New York’s mostly Irish-Catholic working class, it unleashes racial, economic, and religious angst, and causes one of the worst (if not the worst) riots in American history. Meanwhile, Southern women are starving. Their husbands and sons are fighting, but the Confederacy and its states are doing nothing to check a rampant rise in the cost of food. Stuck with choosing between letting their children starve or rioting, it’s a no brainer. They’re choosing the latter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	History that doesn't suck is a bi-weekly podcast, Delirian Illigit,
0:03.2	seriously researched hard-hitting survey of American history through entertaining stories.
0:07.6	If you'd like to support HTTDS or enjoy some perks, like Add Free Early Episodes for $2 a month,
0:13.8	please consider giving at patreon.com-forward-slash-history-that-doesn't-suck.
0:20.5	To keep up with HTTDS News, check us out on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
0:30.5	Welcome to History that doesn't suck. I'm a professor, Greg Jackson, and I'd like to tell you a story.
0:44.5	A brief advisory, this episode contains mob violence against women and children,
0:49.4	while not explicit, listener discretion is advised.
0:54.3	Provost Marshall Charles E. Jenkins and his men are a bit on edge. It's 10 a.m.
0:59.6	this Monday morning, July 13, 1863, and a crowd is formed outside their office at the corner of 46th
1:06.5	street and 3rd avenue here in New York City. Numbering maybe 200 people, the throng peers inside,
1:13.5	making scowls and swearing at Charles and his men.
1:20.8	There's been talk of a riot today. Charles only has 60 policemen to back him up, but he can't wait
1:26.5	forever. It's already well passed the time for him and his officers to get started with their
1:31.6	very unpopular task, drafting local young men into the US Army. Okay, some quick background.
1:41.2	In March, US Congress passed the Enrollment Act. This says that if a given volunteer quota for
1:47.2	new federal troops isn't met within a given congressional district, then all able-bodied men,
1:52.6	ages 20 to 45 in that district, will be subject to a military draft.
1:57.6	Well, almost all men. Those who can pay a $300 fee are exempt from that round of drafting.
2:05.2	That's all well and good if you can afford it, but for the working class and the poorest of the
2:09.6	poor, $300 is a pipe dream. So in a neighborhood like this one, which is home to a great number of
2:16.7	poor working class naturalized Irish immigrants, this lost stokes quite a bit of iron.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from ProfGregJackson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of ProfGregJackson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.