Summary Of Letters To The Editor Of The New York Times By Edward Freeland

In Edward Freeland’s letters to the editor of The New York Times, he stated that “men do not act like brutes or devils without reason.”1 During what would become known as “the largest civilian insurrection in American history”, the New York Draft riots highlighted a bleak and tumultuous time in this nation’s history.2 What motivated the rioters to do what they did has never been one concise answer. In his writings, Freeland set out to analyze the causes and consequences of the riots by investigating the relationships between class, race, and education in American society. Throughout American history, mandatory conscription has been utilized in times of war to ensure American victory and preservation. In theory, a draft appears to be a fair and equal
Moreover, Freeland explained that the issue of income inequality is “the fruitful source of our political troubles and of our social broils.”4 At this time in American history, the number of people employed in factory jobs had increased significantly; however, the rise of industrialization brought negative consequences for the poor, working class people who filled these positions. The average factory worker put in an incredible number of hours; in his “Address to the Workingmen of New England”, Seth Luther recalled that there were employers who would not hire “ten hour men” or men who refused to work more than ten hours in a day.5 Furthermore, Luther recalled that the workers were plagued by continuous labor, poor nutrition, and mental and intellectual degradation. Despite the amount of labor these people put in everyday, they were not adequately rewarded. In their preamble, the Mechanics’ Union of Trade Associations argued that the laborers were not allowed to make a profit off of their labor which only allows the rich to stay