Although New York City sat deep into Union territory geographically during the Civil War, close business ties to the South through Wall Street’s financial interests in the tobacco and cotton industries brought about defiance within the city towards Lincoln and the Union. Deadly riots against Lincoln and his wartime policies brought about bloodshed and chaos throughout the Big Apple.
Key Takeaways:
- “Because of cotton, no city in the North was more pro-South, anti-abolition or anti-Lincoln,” John Strausbaugh writes in justifying the title of his new book, “City of Sedition: The History of New York City During the Civil War”
- As a result, in part because of cotton passing through the port, the Custom House in New York (now Federal Hall) generated the federal government’s largest source of income by 1860.
- “New Yorkers would react to Lincoln’s wartime policies with the deadliest rioting in American history,” Mr. Strausbaugh writes.
““Because of cotton, no city in the North was more pro-South, anti-abolition or anti-Lincoln,” John Strausbaugh writes in justifying the title of his new book, “City of Sedition: The History of New York City During the Civil War””
