The Devil's Own Work

 

"A coruscating chronicle of this shameful episode in American history. He might well have contented himself with a blow-by-blow account, but he also lays bare the depth of pro-Southern 'copperhead' sentiments in the North—in New York City in particular—and the persistence of such sentiments after the war."—The Wall Street Journal

"The most lethal urban riot in American history, the New York City draft riots in July 1863 were not an isolated event. Barnet Schecter provides the most detailed narrative of the riots, and also places them within the national context of the Civil War and the local context of ethnic, racial, and political conflict during the decades from the 1840s to the 1870s. The experience of New York's African American community receives more attention in The Devil's Own Work than in any other study."—James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom

"In The Devil's Own Work, Barnet Schecter has given us a fascinating look
at the explosive witches' brew of resentment and rage that ignited deadly
Civil War draft riots and which continued to haunt the nation for another
hundred years thereafter. It's all here in this thought-provoking and
meticulously rendered work: race and class, protest and reform, and a myriad
of colorful voices."—Jay Winik, author of April 1865: The Month That Saved America

"Barnet Schecter opens a vivid, wide-angle lens on New York City's 1863 draft riots, exposing not only the harrowing experiences of participants on all sides, but also the long roots and deep consequences of this four-day spasm of violent protest. A pivotal moment in the larger Civil War, and part of a Southern attempt to exploit Northern dissent, the riots were also a turning point in American race relations—and in attitudes toward labor, immigrants, and an evolving class society. Schecter tells his story in readable language and largely through the eyes of those who lived it, making the book an absorbing journey though this controversial passage in our history."—Kenneth D. Ackerman, author of Boss Tweed

"At last, the real war has got into the books. Barnet Schecter’s The Devil's Own Work is a masterpiece of historical writing, the first work to place the New York City draft riots in their full context."—Kevin Baker, author of Paradise Alley

"Barnet Schecter has brought the terrible days of death, fire, and looting in Gotham to life with vivid prose and thorough research. The Devil's Own Work is a fascinating account of the most important civil disturbance in all of American history."—Kenneth T. Jackson, Columbia University, editor-in-chief, The Encyclopedia of New York City

"Barnet Schecter unearths the political and social roots of the Civil War Draft Riots and traces their reach as they influenced the fate of Reconstruction and the struggle for American democracy. Ambitious in its arguments and generous with its detail, The Devil's Own Work carefully dissects the Riots to provide new insights and challenges to those interested in the history of New York City and the Civil War."—Craig Steven Wilder, Professor of History, Dartmouth College

"For several days in mid-July 1863 New York City, white working-class, mainly Irish Catholic mobs rebelled against the government's first military draft, which allowed those capable of paying the $300 exemption to avoid conscription. Before being brutally suppressed, rioters caused great destruction in the city, battling police and soldiers, torching rich Republican Protestants' homes, and seeking ethnic cleansing of the city's African Americans . . . Schecter's book explores immediate antebellum and postbellum economic and social relationships that buttressed antidraft riots in New York and other cities. But building upon more recent scholarship and his own archival research, Schecter presents a gripping story, clearly and accurately centering the riots in the context of political power relationships: New York City Democratic Party leaders, with pro-Confederate sympathies, played upon class, ethnic, and religious animosities and antiblack racism to mobilize white working people in support of their party's objectives in reshaping the national agenda, first for the Civil War and later for Reconstruction. An appendix offers a walking tour of Civil War New York, for which additional details are provided via the book's eponymous web site. Highly recommended."—Charles L. Lumpkins, Library Journal

"The 1863 draft riots in New York City, the bloodiest in the nation's history, emerge as a microcosm of the convoluted and contradictory politics of the Civil War era in this absorbing study. Historian Schecter pens with a gripping account of the five days of rioting. But he also probes beneath the turmoil to examine the ethnic, religious and class conflicts that made the confrontation so explosive. The rioters, largely working-class Irish Catholics, vented their fury at a draft law that exempted those who could pay $300, at the city's WASP Republican business elite and, inflamed by racist demagoguery, at African-Americans with whom they competed for low-wage jobs and status in America's racial hierarchy. Schecter contends that these dynamics played out nationally in the gradual demise of Reconstruction, thus setting the stage for racial and labor conflict in the century to come. Copiously researched and highlighted with a wealth of period commentary, his lucid narrative colorfully recreates a historical watershed and offers a rich exploration of the Civil War's unfinished business."—Publishers Weekly