Detroit and the Problem of Disorder: The Riot of 1863

During the Civil War the North experienced numerous outbreaks of mob violence precipitated by the tensions of an increasingly unpopular war, the difficulties of filling the manpower needs of the military, the issue of slave emancipation, the depth of racial prejudice, and nagging economic ills. The most famous riot took place in New York City in July 1863, but four months earlier the city of Detroit was the scene of a similar, if less spectacular riot. How that city responded illustrates the complexities of nineteenth century urban institutional development and in particular the persistence of outmoded ways of thinking about Detroit as a community.