<Li> Philo Parsons Affair </Li> <Li> St. Albans Raid </Li> <P> The New York City draft riots (July 13--16, 1863), known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of working - class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War . The riots remain the largest civil and racially charged insurrection in American history, aside from the Civil War itself . </P> <P> U.S. President Abraham Lincoln diverted several regiments of militia and volunteer troops after the Battle of Gettysburg to control the city . The rioters were overwhelmingly working - class men, mostly Irish or of Irish descent, who feared free black people competing for work and resented that wealthier men, who could afford to pay a $300 (equivalent to $9,157 in 2017) commutation fee to hire a substitute, were spared from the draft . </P>

What was the new york city draft riots