The rioters were overwhelmingly white working-class men , mostly Irish or of Irish descent , who feared free black people competing for work and resented Judgment_communication that wealthier men , who could afford Commerce_pay to pay Commerce_pay a $ 300 ( equivalent to $ 9,200 in 2017 ) commutation fee to hire Employment a substitute , were spared from the draft .

In addition , the well-connected East India Company had been granted Getting competitive advantages over colonial tea importers , who resented Judgment_communication the move Motion and feared additional infringement on their business .

Dissidents included Cause_to_be_included Christians who resented Perception_active an alleged Statement Islamic bias in the ELF , inhabitants of the coast with regionalist concerns , and radical Marxists .