The Buffalo Riot of 1862 was a civil disturbance on the afternoon of August 12, 1862 by Irish and German stevedores against local dock bosses, and more broadly, the federal government.
The rioters, frustrated by low wages and the federal government's call for a militia draft, demanded increased pay and prevented others from working at the old rates.
A central cause of the riot was the Militia Act of 1862, Republican-sponsored legislation in July of that year which expanded President Abraham Lincoln's wartime powers.
The speaker criticized Yankees who "had conspired against the German, Irish and Scotch residents of the country, to force them into the army."
The riot was eventually quelled by Buffalo Police, and ended with some fourteen rioters jailed.