On Saturday, July 11, 1863, the first lottery draft for the Civil War took place in New York. Over 1,000 names were called to fill New York’s 2,000-man quota. If your name was called and you had $300 to pay for a substitute, you weren't too worried.

Conscription post in the newspaper.

But most people couldn't afford the $300 fee ($5,000 today). This meant the poorer classes had no choice but to join the Union army, whether they wanted to or not.

Draft wheel, ca. 1863

Spinning of the lottery wheel in the 1863 draft

The weekend was uneventful, but two days later, mayhem would commence. You see, for months, the media and politicians created the perfect storm by planting unfounded stories of freed Blacks going north to take jobs from Irish immigrants and others. New York wasn’t the utopia of progression that many believe. Sure, it existed in a far greater sense than it did down south, but slavery padded a lot of New Yorkers’ pockets, and its abolishment was in contrast to their livelihood.

This event is pivotal in my upcoming middle-grade novel, tentatively titled Florence Wallace's Year in the Colored Orphan Asylum, coming next summer! Stay tuned for more historical tidbits leading up to publication.

Publisher's Weekly Book announcement!