In 1863, desperate for more Union soldiers, President Abraham Lincoln institutes a controversial draft. However, the wealthy are able to escape serving in the army by paying a $300 waiver - more than a year's income for the recent immigrant Irish. On 11 July, as the first drawing takes place in Lower Manhattan, the city of New York explodes in rage and fire. Shops are looted, buildings are burned down and black Americans are attacked, beaten and murdered. 15-year-old Claire, the daughter of a black father and Irish mother, finds herself torn between the two warring sides.