The Story of the Civil War Draft

The Conscription Prescription: The Story of the Civil War Draft Since poverty has been our crime, We bow to the decree, We are the poor who have no wealth, To purchase liberty. Both the strategies of the Union and the Confederacy would require a large number of soldiers in order to succeed. At the start of the war the Union had a much larger population than the south (22 million people in the North to 9 million in the South, 1/3 of which were slaves). At the onset of the war, in addition to the standing armies of both sides, the presidents of the Union and the Confederacy requested volunteers to serve. Less than a year after the war began, Lincoln called for 300,000 volunteers. Many of the men that served in the Civil War were not career soldiers, most were volunteer civilians. Most of the soldiers from the Union and the Confederacy were former farmers. Most of the soldiers were American-born, but immigrants also served in the armies. Many of the immigrant soldiers came from Germany and Ireland. African-Americans also served in the armies of the Union. The Union was hesitant to allow African-American soldiers into combat at the beginning of the war. Like most volunteers, many African-Americans (including former slaves) wanted to serve in the war because they believed so strongly in its purpose. However, most white volunteers did not believe the goal of the war was to create racial equality in the United States. Most white volunteers believed the goal of the war was to keep the country united. By the war’s end, about 180,000 African-Americans served in the Union’s army. The 54th regiment from Massachusetts (depicted in the film Glory) was one of the most famous because they were the first black regiment to serve in the North.

Union & Confederate Draft Laws

Despite the large number of volunteers, the Union and the Confederacy needed more soldiers. In order to solve that problem, both sides passed conscription laws. Conscription laws established a draft – a process in which citizens of a country are required by the government to join the army in times of war. The Confederate Conscription Act, passed in 1862, required all white males between the ages of 18 and 35 be eligible to serve in the military. If drafted, they would be required to serve for a 3 year term. As the Confederacy lost more and more men during the course of the war the age limit was extended to 45 (later in 1862) and then to seventy (in 1864)!

Under the Confederate Conscription Law not everyone was required to serve in the army. In fact there were many exceptions. If a man worked in a job considered highly valuable, he could not be drafted. Railroad and river workers, government employees, telegraph operators, miners, druggists and teachers were all highly valuable jobs. In many Confederate states, there was a sudden increase in the number of people applying for teaching jobs! Another exception was that any man who owned or oversaw 20 or more slaves could not be forced to serve. This exception allowed wealthy southerners to escape the draft.

The Enrollment Act was the Union’s version of a draft law (it was passed one year after the Confederate Conscription Act but was very similar). All white males between the ages of 18 and 45 could be drafted in the North. The northern draft law exempted men in certain professions and those with children. Men with physical disabilities such as imperfect vision, missing teeth and missing fingers were not required to serve in the North. Individual states were responsible for conducting the draft and they used a lottery system. Draftees were paid up to $500 by the federal government for their service (equivalent to the average yearly income at the time). Just like in the South, plenty of northerners found ways to “dodge the draft”.

Wealthy citizens could pay a cash “commutation fee” instead of serving – meaning they could pay the government a set amount of money ($300) and be exempt from the draft. Wealthy citizens could also pay another man to serve in his place, a substitute soldier. Lincoln (who was too old to be drafted) hired a substitute to serve in his place (feeling it would set a good example for the rest of the country). All of these exceptions benefited only the wealthy. How could a common laborer in the North (making about $1 a day) ever afford the commutation fee? The answer is they could not.

Anger Over the Draft

Most northerners realized that the army needed soldiers and were not upset by the concept of a draft. In fact, after the Conscription Act was passed, many northerners voluntarily enlisted. They believed it would be shameful to wait to fight until the government required it by law. People in both the North and the South felt that the exceptions were unfair though. There were rumblings and small protests against the inequality of the law in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, but the largest protest took place in New York City.

The draft commenced in New York City on July 11th 1863. Two days later riots broke out all over the city. Mobs of angry men tore down telegraph poles and descended upon the building where the draft-lottery wheel was located. The mob seized the wheel and the books containing the names of potential draftees and tore them up. The rioters set fire to the building and took to the streets where they looted jewelry and liquor stores. They also broke into an armory on Second Avenue and stole weapons.

The draft riot lasted for 3 full days and got progressively more violent. Some of the violence was directed toward African-Americans. The rioters argued that the Civil War was being fought over slavery, so African-Americans were the cause of the war (a completely illogical argument). Rioters began targeting African-Americans, beating them and hanging them! An orphanage for African-American children was set on fire by the out-of-control mob. By the third day of the riots, African- American’s homes were being destroyed. The Union army, under General Meade, was eventually able to quell the rioters, but sporadic violence still took place outside of Manhattan and in parts of Boston, Portsmouth, NH and Milwaukee.

The number of men who were drafted into service in the Civil War is relatively low. Of the 2.1 million men who served in the Union Army, 75,000 were professional soldiers. Only 46,000 were draftees and 73,000 were “substitutes” serving in the place of a wealthy man who’d paid him to serve instead. It is unclear how many soldiers in the Confederacy were drafted, but the number is estimated to be similar (considering the Confederacy had 1 million soldiers serve in total).

Name: US History Date: Core: Conscription Prescription: Reader Response Directions: Use the Conscription Prescription handout to answer the following questions. Fact Check… 1. What does the word “conscription” mean? ______

2. True or False. The Conscription Act and the Enrollment Act were both very fair in that all men were treated equally. Any person, regardless of their wealth, could be drafted into military service. I think that this statement is ______(true or false) because in the text it says: ______

Reading Comprehension…

1. Which of the following best illustrates the text structure used under the heading “Union & Confederate Draft Laws”?

a. cause/effect b. compare/contrast

c. main idea/supporting details d. sequence of events

2. In the space below, draw a diagram of that text structure and fill it in using information from the passage.

Reader Response.

3. Which of the following statements cannot be supported by the information in the article? a. The draft laws of the North and the South were rather unfair. b. By 1863, most people of the North began to believe in racial equality. c. A large number of people did volunteer to join the war, but both sides needed more soldiers d. People in many northern states were upset by the inequality of the draft laws

______

4 3 2 1 Exemplary Proficient Progressing Beginning

 Insightful, well  Thoughtful,  Organized and  Disorganized or organized, and organized, and somewhat fluent confusing fluent fluent  Basic understanding  Limited or no  Deep understanding  Clear understanding of text is displayed understanding of text of text is of the text is  At least one is displayed demonstrated demonstrated relevant example  Limited or no  Specific references  Relevant references from text is used to examples from text to text are used to to text are used to support ideas are used to support support ideas support ideas  Text references are ideas  Text references are  Text references are somewhat  Text reference seems well interpreted and explained and connected to irrelevant to response clearly connected to connected to response response response