Protests against Donald Trump took place in several major cities across the US on Wednesday night, less than 24 hours after after Trump won the presidential election.

Demonstrators in New York City, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, DC, and Detroit were in the streets chanting "Not my president" and accusing Trump of running a campaign fueled by racism, xenophobia, and sexism.

In New York, thousands of people began a march at Union Square in Manhattan and moved up Broadway toward Trump Tower in midtown, stopping rush-hour traffic in its place. The mass of people spanned more than 40 city blocks.

Crowds broke out into dozens of anti-Trump chants, including "Love trumps hate" and "P---y grabs back." The crowd outside Trump Tower grew to nearly 10,000 late Wednesday, according to the New York Police Department.

People in San Francisco also numbered in the thousands, holding signs with messages like "Trump says go back, we say fight back. No to racism, sexism, war."

Protesters marching Wednesday in San Francisco in opposition of Trump's election victory. AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Natalie Toland, a San Francisco resident, told Business Insider she reacted to Trump's victory in Tuesday's election with "shock and awe."

"We're showing the American people and Donald Trump that we will not back down and we will not stand for his blatant ignorance," Toland said, holding a "Not my president" sign.

A demonstrator named Sarah Huck said she underestimated how angry and divided the country had become in recent years.

"I think it is a symptom of our country being so fed up with the way the government is run," Huck told Business Insider. "I don't think that I truly understand how angry people have been by what I consider progress and what they consider a changing white America."

Exit polls suggested that Trump's upset victory was possible in large part because his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, underperformed with numerous voter demographics including African-Americans and Latinos. She was poised to win the popular vote, however.

Berkeley High School students protesting the election of Trump in Berkeley, California, on Wednesday. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

Students started their own marches as well.

At Berkeley High School in California, about 1,500 students and teachers walked out of class before 9 a.m., the Los Angeles Times reported.

About 2,000 people protested Trump's election on Wednesday morning at the University of California at Los Angeles. At the height of the protest, a Trump piñata was set on fire in a trash can, according to The Times. On Wednesday night, a Trump effigy was burned outside city hall. Some of the demonstrators stopped traffic on the 101 Freeway at about 10:40 p.m. PT.

Nearly 2,000 people gathered at the Trump International Hotel in Chicago, chanting, "No Trump! No KKK! No racist USA," Reuters reported.

Adriana Rizzo, one of the Chicago demonstrators, told the news wire service "I'm just really terrified about what is happening in this country." She held a sign that said "Enjoy your rights while you can."

The marches come at a time when political luminaries have asked Americans to unite behind Trump.

President Barack Obama, Clinton, and House Speaker Paul Ryan called for healing the divisions after a bruising campaign.

The massive protests suggest little interest in that at the moment.

Here's how things were unfolding across the country:

The protests are strikingly similar to those that were held over the past 18 months of the election cycle. During and after the Republican primary, people were shouting down Trump supporters and protesting his appearances. Many of those demonstrations turned violent.

Trump, after receiving Clinton's concession early Wednesday morning, addressed a celebratory audience at a hotel in New York, asking Americans to put aside their differences and vowing to be a president "for all Americans."

The words, however, were not well received by citizens who say they have felt the repercussions of what has been a bitter and divisive election.

Abby Jackson, Jeremy Berke, and Mark Abadi contributed reporting.