Mob Mentality on the Second Day

The from the events of the second day's draft riots, we can clearly see that the mentality has changed. Whereas before the actions of the mob could be taken as an organized, albeit a violent, political protest, now the mob has descended into pure anarchy. As J.T. Headly put it, "The spirit of hell seemed to have entered the hearts of these men". These people were now openly looting, lynching, and burning anything they could connect to the war. The crowd targeted "places that represented the war effort, the Republican party, and/or social privilege" (Context to Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper). Any political aspect of the mob was stripped from media coverage. In each of the illustrations from the second or third days, the men and women are poor, animalistic, and brutal. Juxtaposed against the image of the well dressed and well organized mob of the morning of the first day, we can easily see that difference in character that the group has taken on as time progressed.

Prime evidence of this is Stoddard's comments on "exemption-money" in The Volcano Under the City. The city "Board of Aldermen" came together and appropriated "$2,500,000", an outlandishly high fee at the time, and even today, which would pay for the draft wavers of those called. The thought being that the mob was made up of draft protesters, and that by buying them out of their draft ticket, the mob would dispel. Perhaps, had the appropriation come out the day earlier, it would have been successful, but as it were the money feel on deaf ears. Indeed Stoddard continues, "An appropriation twice as large would have been just as futile". The crowd was no longer concerned with the draft as it's central issue, but it gave lead to the pursuit of violence and thievery.

As such I would argue that the draft calls were merely the spark that instigated a social uprising unheard of before or after in American history. It was an excuse for the disillusioned and impoverished's racial and social tensions to boil over and erupt, like a Volcano Under the City. Do you agree, or was the draft the main issue of the riot?

Totsiens,

Jon