During the New York City Draft Riots the city's own inhabitants unleashed a torrent of violence and destruction that chiefly targeted African Americans. What originated as a protest against the enforcement of the Conscription Act quickly escalated into a riot that erupted at the volatile nineteenth century crossroads of race, class, and economic competition. In a letter home, the great American poet Walt Whitman wrote: "So the mob has arisen at last in New York. It seems the passions of the people were only sleeping and burst forth with a terrible fury.... We are in the midst of strange and terrible times." In the end, more than one hundred people were killed, hundreds more were injured, and dozens of buildings were destroyed in a rampage that lasted nearly a week. This article describes these riots and offers suggestions for teaching about them in the social studies classroom. A list of internet resources is provided. (Contains 40 notes.)