Riots and a Civil War! When the dissident southern states issued their Ordinance of Secession to break from the Union, there was no mention of States Rights, or Tariffs or any of the other so-called key economic reasons for the breakaway. Of the ten reasons cited, eight of them dealt specifically with slavery. (For plantation owners that was the dominant economic issue). Lincoln was elected with a minority of the popular vote; his main concern was preserving the Union. Many of his war policies were highly unpopular - not just in the South, but even in New York - whose mercantile-and-maritime economy was strongly tied to the southern plantation owners and their crops. The Emancipation Proclamation only attempted to free slaves in the rebel Confederacy, not the non-seceeding Border States. But, when coupled with the Conscription Act of 1863 (first ever national Draft) it triggered bloody riots and Civil War. How all these political, war-time issues unfold and play out nationally and locally (as exemplified by the NY City Draft Riots and Battle for Ft. Wagner) makes for an informative and fascinating Segment #12.

Riots and a Civil War! When the dissident southern states issued their Ordinance of Secession to break from the Union, there was no mention of States Rights, or Tariffs or any of the other so-called key economic reasons for the breakaway. Of the ten reasons cited, eight of them dealt specifically with slavery. (For plantation owners that was the dominant economic issue). Lincoln was elected with a minority of the popular vote; his main concern was preserving the Union. Many of his war policies were highly unpopular - not just in the South, but even in New York - whose mercantile-and-maritime economy was strongly tied to the southern plantation owners and their crops. The Emancipation Proclamation only attempted to free slaves in the rebel Confederacy, not the non-seceeding Border States. But, when coupled with the Conscription Act of 1863 (first ever national Draft) it triggered bloody riots and Civil War. How all these political, war-time issues unfold and play out nationally and locally (as exemplified by the NY City Draft Riots and Battle for Ft. Wagner) makes for an informative and fascinating Segment #12.