Report of the Merchants' Committee for the Relief of Colored People Suffering from the Riots in the City of New York
New York: 1863. 48pp. Original printed wrappers. Very minor edge wear. Light foxing on text edges, but clean internally. A tight, square copy. Near fine. Item #3951
A rare work containing important information on the New York City Draft Riots, including first-hand accounts by African-American victims of the bloody events in mid-July 1863. Between July 13 and July 16, 1863, Lower Manhattan was torn apart by vicious riots sparked by the passage of the Enrollment Act of 1863, designed to reinforce the Union army with new conscriptions. Poor whites, unable to afford the $300 substitution fee, flew into a rage and turned their ire on the people and property of Manhattan. Three days of hell and fury followed, particularly aimed at African Americans, whom the largely Irish mob blamed for the Civil War and resented because of the Emancipation Proclamation. White mobs tore through black neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan - beating, raping, or killing anyone in their path, even burning an African American orphan asylum and hanging some unfortunate souls from lamp posts. Over 800 federal troops, including some who had just days earlier fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, had to be called in to quell the rampage. The 1863 New York City Draft Riots remain the most destructive riots in the history of the Big Apple.
The Committee of Merchants for the Relief of Colored People sought to aid African Americans harmed or dispossessed by the riots. The present work contains reports from their secretary and treasurer, a listing of people whom the committee has assisted, an address to the committee from the "Colored Ministers and Laymen" of New York, several pages listing donor names and amounts of donations, and packages of clothing received by the committee. Most importantly, the work records a number of firsthand accounts by African Americans who were victimized in the event and other accounts of the tragedy in a sixteen-page section titled, "Incidents of the Riot." This section also details others killed or attacked by the rioters and gives other accounts of the events of July 1863. Toward the conclusion of this section, the secretary writes, "By referring to the first twelve incidents, it will be seen that among the killed are men, women, and children - White, Colored and Indian - from the tender babe of three days old, up to the venerable man of three score years and three.... And all were slain, either while in the peaceful pursuit of their honest, though humble vocations, providing for their families, or while endeavoring to escape from the hands of their destroyers."
The present example is one of two variants of the pamphlet, with page twelve ending in the word "no," the right column on page forty-five ending "Total........$41,086 08," and with twenty-two package donors listed on page forty-eight.
An important historical work relating to one of the most unfortunate moments in New York City and American history, and easily the nicest copy of the three we've ever seen.
Library Company, Afro-Americana Collection 7082. Work, p.561. Sabin 54633.
Price: $4,750.00