Big Apple History . Business and Politics . Civil War Breaks Out


	New Yorkers ready to fight in the Civil War.

On April 12, 1861 Southern rebels fired on Fort Sumter, South Carolina marking the beginning of the Civil War. New York's merchants and bankers feared economic disaster. After all, many had made fortunes dealing in cotton and other slave-produced goods. "Shipping will rot at the wharves, and grass will grow in the streets," the NEW YORK TIMES predicted. Such declarations turned out to be unjustified as Wall Street prospered greatly from the war.

While Wall Street worried about the impact the war might have on the economy, people on 14th Street cheered the announcement. With more than 100,000 citizens joining in, the pro-Union rally was the largest in the nation's history, "a red, white and blue wonder." Native-born New Yorkers came to denounce the "slave-holding conspiracy." Immigrants -- German and Irish alike -- competed in showing their loyalty to the flag.

Within several months, the city produced 66 regiments of volunteers. The enthusiasm, however, did not last. As casualties mounted, frustration and anger grew. When, in 1863, the government began forcibly conscripting, or drafting, men to fight, New York exploded with anger and grief.

Illustration: courtesy of Roger Whitehouse and the Museum of the City of New York.