On this day in 1863, riots over conscription in the Civil War began in Manhattan.

July 13, 1863

The Civil War anti-conscription riots began in Manhattan – one of the bloodiest uprisings in the country’s history. What began as a revolt by white workers angry at the government’s draft policy turned into an attack on blacks. The mob of thousands of people set fire to dozens of buildings, including the Colored Orphan Asylum, which housed up to 800 children.

“On July 13th at 4 p.m. an angry mob… surrounded the grounds of the institution and 500 of them entered the house… they deliberately set it on fire… simply because it was the home of harmless colored orphans,” the minutes of the orphanage’s board of directors state.

The mob shot, hanged, and burned black residents. A crowd watched as the mob tortured and killed sailor William Williams. No one intervened, and when the mob was finished, they cheered and promised to take revenge on “every n— in New York.”

By the end of the carnage, at least 120 people had been killed and over 2,000 injured. Within two years, the number of black residents had dropped to fewer than 10,000, the lowest level in over three decades. Many of those who remained eventually moved to a neighborhood now known as Harlem.

“New York City has never united to overcome the problems of racism and fully embrace black freedom,” wrote author Leslie M. Harris. “Nor could the nation.”