|
Begun in 1857, by 1863 Harper's Weekly had the widest circulation of the nation's three weekly illustrated newspapers. It was popular with northern readers for its pictorial Civil War coverage, which featured wood engravings based on the work of artist-reporters and photographers on the scene at battlefields and encampments. Like its war coverage, the Weekly 's depiction of the Draft Riots reflected its support of the Republican Party and Union cause as well as its antipathy toward people and institutions who opposed or disrupted the war effort, in particular poor Irish Catholic immigrants and the Copperhead (pro-southern) wing of the Democratic party. During the draft riots, crowds targeted places that represented the war effort, the Republican party, and/or social privilege. Brooks Brothers clothing store was known both as a purveyor of clothes to the upper classes and a government war contractor. This dark image of a faceless throng outside Brooks Brothers highlights the men and women trying on their newly acquired clothes in the foreground. ? |
Draft Riots 1863- looting Brooks Brothers
