11.6 OPPOSITION TO BLACK PEOPLE

THE NYC DRAFT RIOT Northerners remained bitter and hostile toward African Americans Poor Irish workers in NYC became convinced by Northern Democrats and even the Governor that the war had become a crusade to benefit black people A mob formed to protest the draft of men into the military

THE NYC DRAFT RIOT Rich white Northerners could purchase an exemption to the draft Poor whites feared the competition of blacks in the work force Rioters attacked and destroyed Republican owned businesses and homes Black citizens were beaten and lynched. A orphanage for black children was burnt down, thankfully the children had already fled The riot lasted for four days and didn’t stop until the US Army arrived to put it down

REFUGEES As Union troops marched through the South they burned plantations and thousands of slaves freed themselves These slaves became refugees with nowhere to live Although the Union leaders urged them to remain on the plantations they refused and in many cases followed the Union army

BLACK PEOPLE AND THE CONFEDERACY The Confederacy forced black soldiers to fight for them in the war Often they worked primarily as laborers to keep the Confederate war machine going

CONFEDERATES ENSLAVE FREE BLACK PEOPLE After Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, Confederate president Jefferson Davis issued his own proclamation He declared that “all free negroes were now to be enslaved and considered chattels… forever” Confederate armies that invaded Pennsylvania captured and enslaved thousands of Northerners as well

BLACK MEN FIGHTING FOR THE SOUTH Approximately, 144,000 black troops from the South fought for the Union A much smaller number fought for the Confederacy Some black civilians supported the Confederacy and stood to profit if they won because they had accumulated a great deal of confederate currency

THE CONFEDERATE DEBATE ON BLACK TROOPS As the Confederate war effort struggled in they began to debate the use of black soldiers Eventually the Confederates decided to enlist 300,000 black soldiers offering them freedom if they served However, the war was over before this could be fully carried out

ASSIGNMENT 1) What sparked the NYC draft riot? 2) Why did southern whites consider using black soldiers in the Confederate army? 3) How did African Americans affect the outcome of the Civil War? 4) Why did some African Americans decide to fight on the side of the South? 5) What was the Civil War for white southerners? (Why were they fighting?)