Jim Harrelson---Facebook · March 6, 1863, Detroit Michigan Draft riots were the first Union draft riots in response to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and forced conscription orders.
White Detroiters used the trial of William Faulkner as a catalyst to destroy property within black neighborhoods. Two “negros” were lynched, hundreds injured. The riot was one of many riots across the U.S. in response to the Enrollment Act of Conscription. Similar to the riots in New York and Boston, the Detroit riot was in response to race and class tension surrounding the issues of slavery, draft exemption, forced conscription and employment. Federal Troops were ordered in occupy the city to quell the riots, confiscate firearms and fired on residents, killing at least 2 citizens and injuring 100’s more. The Detroit Free Press is accused of inciting resentment against African Americans.
Note: The riot resulted in the creation of a full-time police force for Detroit.
Sources : Detroit Draft Riot, courtesy of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Ironically, the two girls recanted their testimony and seven years later William Faulkner was released from prison.
A BLOODY RIOT.: The Provost Guard Fire Upon a Defenseless Crowd. ONE MAN KILLED AND MANY WOUNDED. Assault upon a Negro Hovel and Murder of the Inmates. A BLOOD-THIRSTY AND UNMANAGEABLE MOB. The City Fired in Twenty Places. THE MILITARY OUT TO SUPPRESS THE RIOT. The Twenty-Seventh Regiment Summoned from Ypsilanti. Patrol Guards Established Throughout the city. THE GREATEST EXCITEMENT EVER KNOWN IN DETROIT. Detroit Free Press, March 7, 1863, p. 1 Courtesy of Proquest Historical Newspapers.
