Draft Riots, in New York City, the most violent of a series of outbreaks against the Conscription Act of 1863 during the Civil War. The act, which permitted a man to purchase an exemption or hire a substitute, was grossly unfair to the poor. For four days (July 13–16) a mob, led mostly by poor Irish-Americans, terrorized the city. They demolished draft offices and armories, attacked blacks and abolitionists, and looted and burned stores. Police and federal troops finally restored order, but not before more than 500 persons were killed and nearly $2,000,000 in property destroyed.