Not pretty. Lincoln did offer immigrants citizenship if they signed up - probably had officers waiting at the docks as the greenies got off the boat. And I speak as a fan of Lincoln. If you haven't seen "Gangs of New York", you need to treat yourself. It was a very entertaining movie, and it touches on the Irish riots in New York.
It's been some years since I've seen it, but I seem to remember it showing the Union forces conscripting the Irish right off the boats.
The other day when I was looking for something else, I stumbled across some commentary from the period.
White workers compared their value unfavorably to that of southern slaves, stating that "[we] are sold for $300 [the price of exemption from war service] whilst they pay $1000 for negroes."
I thought to myself that was a very sobering way to regard the situation they found themselves in. They were effectively Slaves at 1/3rd the price. Till they were killed anyway, and then they were worth nothing.
It's been some years since I've seen it, but I seem to remember it showing the Union forces conscripting the Irish right off the boats.Which shows why you should never get your history from movies. That never happened. There may have been recruiters, but there was no conscription at the docks. In point of fact, only 2% of the US army were conscripts, with another 6% substitutes paid by draftees. Oh, and while we're talking about the inaccuracy of that movie, Bill the Butcher Poole, the Daniel Day-Lewis character, died eight years before the New York Draft Riots and the Old Brewery was torn down in 1852.
I thought to myself that was a very sobering way to regard the situation they found themselves in. They were effectively Slaves at 1/3rd the price. Till they were killed anyway, and then they were worth nothing.
Then I assume you also believe that the ten million American men conscripted into the US armed services during WW2 were just slaves, too.