In the midst of the Civil War, Congress passed a law to draft men to fight in the conflict. While the wealthy could pay $300 to hire a substitute to fight instead, New York's Irish working class, many of them already worried about competition from black laborers, was left to face the prospect of going into the battle. And then tensions boiled over into what ultimately became New York City's deadliest clash.

The Civil War's long shadow looms in BBC America's Copper, a gripping new cop-drama series set in 1860s New York City from Academy Award®-winner Barry Levinson and Emmy® Award-winner Tom Fontana. While New York was in the Union, not all city residents were happy about that: With the population growing by leaps and bounds, thanks to immigrants and newly freed slaves, people struggled to coexist in the crowded, cutthroat city. Read on for more details of the bloody days that rocked the city and for the exclusive Copper trailer.