Description:

[New York Draft Riots] Conscription Booklet with Check for Riot Damage Signed by NY Mayor Updyke

An 1863 Conscription Law booklet together with a check made out to pay for damages made during the New York Draft Riots, highlighting the tensions that the draft created during the Civil War. The pocket-sized booklet , 32pp, measures 3" x 4.25".  Entitled "The United States Conscription Law of 1863, Official and Complete." New York: James W. Fortune, 1863. The booklet outlines the draft laws, age requirements, clothing and equipment regulations, duties, exemptions, crimes and punishment, etc., with advertisements on the blue paper wraps along with inside the booklet every few pages. The booklet cover is signed at the top, "W. Snow & Son". In relation to the soon to come riots, the booklet reads:

"Sec. 25. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall resist any draft of men enrolled under this act into the service of the United States, or shall counsel or aid any person to resist any such draft, or shall assault or obstruct any officer in making such draft, or in the performance of any service in relation thereto, or shall counsel any person to assault or obstruct any such officer, or shall counsel any drafted men not to appear at the place of rendezvous, or willfully dissuade them from the performance of military duty as required by law, such person shall be subject to summary arrest by the provost-marshal, and shall…be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment, not exceeding two years, or by both of said punishments…" 

Following the draft riots that broke out in New York City from July 13-16, 1863, the government had to make numerous payments to businesses that had been damaged by the mobs who ransacked or destroyed numerous public buildings. The check included in this lot measures 8.25" x 3.625", New York, dated November 16, 1863, and makes a payment of $40.00 to William R. McCreary for "damage by Rioters at 552 Grand Street July 1863." Signed by New York Mayor George Updyke and countersigned by Matthew Brennan, Comptroller. The check has been endorsed on verso and has cancellation cuts. Soiling, toning, and wear to the booklet. Light edge toning to the check. Tape on verso of check to support cuts and punches. Boldly signed by Updyke.

The first effective draft by the federal government, signed into law by President Lincoln on March 3, 1863, called for all men between the ages of 18 and 45 to be enrolled into local militia units and be available to be called into national service. The actual draft was managed by the states, which most often used a lottery system. On July 11, the first names of the new Federal draft were drawn in New York City and almost immediately protests broke out. Many felt that after two years of bloody fighting, the war had not achieved very much, compounded by white working-class men fearing competition from free black people. The draft protests turned violent and racially charged, lasting four days before federal troops managed to restore order. In the aftermath, many public buildings were ransacked, the homes of abolitionists and blacks were burned to the ground, and an estimated one thousand people were killed or wounded, mostly blacks.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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