The Civil War Draft laws: Moral or Exploitation

The “call to arms” made its first appearance in the Civil War in the form of conscripting men to “volunteer.” It was necessitated to keep the war effort supplied, but was it fair or did it favor the rich?

 

My Irish immigrant great, great grandfather volunteered to join the Union Army because he was a poor tenant farmer who needed money and land to support his starving family.  He took the place of a wealthy banker who had been conscripted (drafted) and was given a few acres of land and a Bounty of 100 dollars in return. He was desperate and needed this land and money for his family’s survival. Moreover, in New England in the 1860’s a person’s standing in the community was based on his being a landowner. Thousands of other “substitutes” joined for both the North and the South cause; many did not return home.  

 

The resentment of the Draft Law was felt on both sides of the divided nation prompting the familiar view that this was a  “rich man’s war but a poor man’s fight.” How did this happen?

 

The Draft law was first introduced in the South in 1862. The hope was that the fear of the draft would initiate more men to volunteer.  But, it was not the case. It mandated that white men between the ages of 18-35 could be drafted, later the ages were expanded to 17-50.  But there were many exemptions. In addition to the substitute and payout to avoid the draft, the most controversial exemption was the Twenty Negro Law adopted in October of 1862.  This granted and exemption to the owner or overseer of a plantation with twenty or more able-bodied slaves.  Other exemptions were granted to men who served in federal and state jobs, men in mining, communications and transportation and those who directly served the public such as mailmen, teachers, ministers and druggists.  There were no exemptions for the poor, recent immigrants or those in working class professions. 

In the North an act for “enrolling and calling out the National Forces” was signed into law on March 3, 1863 by President Lincoln. It called for all men between ages of 18-45 to be enrolled into a local militia unit and be available to be called into national service. Again, a draftee could gain an exemption by paying a $300 fee or by hiring a substitute. The North’s Draft law also exempted men who were telegraph operators, railroad engineers, judges and people with physical and mental disabilities. Again, there were no exemptions made for men who could not afford to find a substitute. They had to serve. 

 

So was the conscription a success? It did enlist over 90,000 men for the Confederacy and even more for the Union, but it also caused resentment, bounty-jumping and desertion.  The Draft Law Riots in New York City illustrated how immigrants and poor men abhorred the laws which resulted in their blaming back men for the injustice. Bounty jumpers were men who would enlist and take the bounty money and then desert and re-enlist in another city to take the bounty again. The desertion rate also rose because many “substitutes” had not joined because of a sense of patriotic duty or the desire to be part of the military; they volunteered for money or land. Many of them, like my great, great grandfather; immigrants who were fighting for an adopted country that was often less than hospitable to them. Being placed on the front lines was terrifying and often a death sentence. Desertion seemed an option in their obvious dilemma. 

 

Wars cannot be fought without building an army. However, there are serious questions about fairness and morality of the first conscription. It favored the wealthy and educated, and was a disadvantage to the poor and those who were immigrants. My great, great grandfather gambled his life for land, money, and a tiny piece of the American Dream. I have written a historical fiction novel about his decision to join the Union Army; it’s called, Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke. This is how my Irish ancestor signed the original letters he wrote to his wife and children from the trenches of Virginia. I often wonder how his life would have played out had the Draft Law not enticed him to volunteer for war. Or for all the thousands of substitutes who went to war in place of the advantaged, wealthy men. Many of these underprivileged men lost their lives on the battlefield; their hopes and dreams of a brighter future never attained.