New York City During the Civil War Quiz

Answer: Cooper Union

While the audience initially giggled at Lincoln's ill-fitting wardrobe and his high-pitched, nasal voice, they could not ignore the power of his words. By the end of the speech, the crowd was roaring with support and many were filled with tears of joy. The New York newspapers and magazines did their work and Lincoln became a legitimate candidate for the presidency.

Answer: Matthew Brady

Matthew Brady, who had just moved his studio to Bleecker Street, recognized that Lincoln was not the most handsome of men. Instead of the usual close-up, Brady opted to pull the camera back and take a three-quarters shot of Lincoln. This brilliantly captured Lincoln's height and, thereby, conveyed his strength and stature.

This photo was reproduced in magazines and newspapers across the nation. Later on, Lincoln would acknowledge that Matthew Brady's portrait was one of the things that "made me President."

Answer: They feared that freed blacks would come north and take their jobs

The intensity of this hatred, spurred by the fierce competition for jobs and general racism, would result an apocalyptic riot that killed hundreds of New Yorkers.

Answer: Many of the rich were bankers and business owners to whom the South owed millions of dollars and they feared they would not be paid back

New York City's banks had loaned millions to Southern businesses. New York's manufacturers needed cotton from the South. Both groups were afraid that a split with the South would jeopardize the money and product owed them. For the most part, they were right.

Answer: To have New York City become a free city and secede from the Union

Wood was closely tied to Southern business interests, especially cotton. This made him a notorious enemy of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which would abolish slavery. His proposal to secede, fortunately, was laughed at by the city's Common Council.

Answer: Greenpoint, Brooklyn

The USS Monitor was built in just 101 days and at a cost of just over $250,000. It was only one of hundreds of warships that would be fitted at the Brooklyn Navy Yard from 1806 to 1966.

Answer: A massive demonstration and parade in support of the Union cause

Although anti-war sentiment was powerful in New York, the attack on Fort Sumter ignited a strong pro-Union, patriotic swelling in the city. Tens, and then hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians took to the streets in support of the Union cause. It was the largest public demonstration ever on the North American continent, at that time.

Answer: Brooks Brothers

Brooks Brothers reaped a fortune from making Union uniforms, especially dress uniforms for officers. For this reason, it was targeted by anti-war rioters.

Answer: The Draft Riot

By far, these three days of rioting were perhaps the most infamous, cowardly, and horrifying days in New York City's history. Most, if not all, of the rioters were poor whites who opposed Lincoln imposing a draft, while he allowed anyone who had $300 dollars to spare to buy their way out.

In response, rioters burned down the draft offices, attacked soldiers, politicians and police, and went out on strike. This devolved into lynchings against blacks and the burning of the Colored Orphans Asylum, as well as dozens of other atrocities.

The riots were not quelled until Union troops, many of them just coming out of three days' battle at Gettysburg, arrived in the City.

Answer: With a huge funeral procession up Broadway

The outpouring of grief for the assassinated president was, for all intents, contradictory to the general mistrust and sometimes hatred for Lincoln that New York had previously demonstrated. Nonetheless, nearly a million New Yorkers turned out in grief and mourning for him. One famous photograph is believed to show little Theodore Roosevelt, then seven years old, leaning out of a window to observe the passing of Lincoln's coffin.