"[1] It began due to unrest among the working class related to racism and the military draft,[1] which was heightened after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln.
In total, 35 buildings were destroyed by fire, with many others damaged, and Black residents lost property and cash to the looting and stealing of the mob.
As a result of the riot, the city of Detroit established a full-time police force, which was dominated by whites into the late 20th century.
Located just across the Detroit River from Canada, which had abolished slavery in 1834, the city was a major "station" on the Underground Railroad in the antebellum years.
The Detroit Free Press was a Democratic Party paper that was opposed to President Abraham Lincoln's conduct of the American Civil War and its increasing demand for recruits.
By contrast, the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune largely spoke for the Republican Party, supporting abolitionism and the war as a just cause.
The Irish feared that newly freed slaves from the South would migrate to the North and create further competition in the labor market.
Both of these provisions were created with the intention of softening the effect of the draft on pacifiers, the anti-draft movement and the propertied classes.
Workers tried to defend it, but the mob burned the shop and adjacent house, threatening black women and children inside.
After serving seven years in prison, the two girls, who two months after the trial were jailed on larceny charges, and who testified falsely against him recanted their accusations and Faulkner was pardoned.
Although the Michigan Legislature encouraged compensation for the victims of the riot, the Detroit City Council, dominated by Democrats, refused to do so.