Both Bernstein’s The New York City Draft Riots and the virtual riots draft riots website depicted how violence escalated in New York after the Conscription Act passed. Berstein gave us a broad image of the brutality of the riots and how New York was affected economically where as the website gave a five day report of what happened in the riots. Bernstein clearly introduces the minuscule problems which heightened during the draft wars along with how both the Democrats, Republicans and the population of New York City in general was affected. The rejection of these drafts along with the deadly riots severely caused the economy to plummet making living an even greater challenge for the middle class.
I felt that the website was pretty useful in understanding the human “psychology” of the riots and explained why the mob acted the way they did. It did a pretty good job of explaining the day by day process of the riots and the number of places t=which were attacked along with the acts of cruelty towards African-Americans. However, I will suggest that the website contain a bit more spark. The background was white and bland and there should more pictures to support the text. Although the text was very helpful, the website, concerning visual effects, was rather mundane.