 The rioters then targeted black people as many rioters saw the American Civil War as a war to free the slaves and thus blamed them for the draft, as well as the war.Many black people were caught by the mob, stabbed, and lynched as a result.When the riots started, the New York State Militia were absent because they had been sent to assist regular Union troops repelling General Lee's Confederate Army in Pennsylvania, thus leaving the New York City Police Department as the only serious force available to put down the riot.