Good Morning...Hey, there's a draft in here!

[Okla-homey]

March 3, 1863 Congress passes Civil War conscription act

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Civil War era draft notice. if you got one of these, you were headed "to see the elephant"

On this day 143 years ago, the U.S. Congress passes a conscription act that produces the first wartime draft of U.S. citizens in American history. The Civil War had been raging for almost two years. Volunteers were'nt springing forth as they had when the war began and original volunteer enlistments were lapsing with many refusing to re-enlist.

The act called for registration of all males between the ages of 20 and 45, including aliens with the intention of becoming citizens, by April 1. Exemptions from the draft could be bought for $300 or by finding a substitute draftee.

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Example of document draftee used to inform authorities he had found a substitute, thus avoiding the draft. As you might imagine, this became big business. Unsavory characters agreed to serve as substitutes after payment of a bribe by the draftee, then these "substitutes" usually failed to turn up for induction. There are many examples of "substitutes" pulling this scam multiple times.

This substitute clause, particularly the part that a draftee could buy his way out of induction for the then princely sum of $300 led to the July 1863 bloody draft riots in New York City. The rioters were outraged that exemptions were effectively granted only to the wealthiest U.S. citizens.

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NYC draft riot. Notice the looting of Brooks Bros.

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Another image of the 1863 NYC draft riot. The riot was finally put down when Union army regiments who had recently fought at Gettysburg were shipped in. As you might imagine, those guys didn't have much sympathy for draft-dodgers.

Although the Civil War saw the first compulsory conscription of U.S. citizens for wartime service, a 1792 act by Congress required that all able-bodied male citizens purchase a gun and join their local state militia. However, there was no penalty for noncompliance with this act.

Congress also passed a conscription act during the War of 1812, but the war ended before it was enacted. During the Civil War, the government of the Confederate States of America also enacted a compulsory military draft.

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WWII era placard reminding draft eligible men to register

The U.S. enacted a military draft again during World War I, in 1940 to make the U.S. ready for its involvement World War II, and during the Korean War. The last U.S. military draft occurred during the Vietnam War.

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Viet Nam era draft notice. If you passed the physical, you were in.

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The Viet nam era draft was rather unpopular

To this day, 18 year old males are still required to register for the draft. As an aside, your correspondent finds it interesting that feminists have never attacked this facially sexist law. :eek:

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[Taxman71]

New Yorkers vehamently against fighting a war, shocking.

[12]

To this day, 18 year old males are still required to register for the draft. As an aside, your correspondent finds it interesting that feminists have never attacked this facially sexist law. :eek:

No kidding.

[TUSooner]

New Yorkers vehamently against fighting a war, shocking.
That's cheap and lame. :mad:
Very many New Yorkers fought.
And you misspelled "vehemently". :rolleyes:

[SoonerBorn68]

...a 1792 act by Congress required that all able-bodied male citizens purchase a gun...

My how times have changed.

[BoomerJack]

According to our erstwhile writer, the riots were in protest to the clause allowing prospective draftees to buy their way of the conflict for $300.00

Also, I'd be interested to know if there were any such draft riots in other cities (Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago). Do you know anything about that, OklaHomey??

[Okla-homey]

According to our erstwhile writer, the riots were in protest to the clause allowing prospective draftees to buy their way of the conflict for $300.00

Also, I'd be interested to know if there were any such draft riots in other cities (Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago). Do you know anything about that, OklaHomey??

NYC was the biggest because the immigrant population was huge there. See, Irish guys just off the boat from "the old sod" were'nt too jazzed about heading down South to "free the slaves." They also didn't have anywhere near the 300.00 to purchase their draft exemption.

The riot in NYC had a very nasty racial facet. Rioters rounded up and killed blacks pretty indiscriminantly. They even burned an orphanage for black children to the ground with the kids inside.

There was some unrest in the South over conscription as well -- but not to the extent of that in New York. The unrest was mainly because plantation owners were exempt -- officially because their operation was crucial to the Confederate economy. Kinda dumb though because the Federal blockade had effectively cut-off CS export of cotton to US and European markets.

[BoomerJack]

"NYC was the biggest because the immigrant population was huge there. See, Irish guys just off the boat from "the old sod"..... "

I pretty much knew that. I was curious about the other cities I mentioned. So there were riots in other cities, just not as large or devasting as the one in NYC.

Wasn't there also some animosity toward the U.S. military by Irish immigrants and decendants about the military's treatment of them during the Mexican-American war that may have contributed to this?

[Taxman71]

That's cheap and lame. :mad:
Very many New Yorkers fought.
And you misspelled "vehemently". :rolleyes:

That was a shot at the Hillary-led Dems of New York, not the real people of NY.

Plus, I had not had my coffee by then.

[TUSooner]

That was a shot at the Hillary-led Dems of New York, not the real people of NY.

Plus, I had not had my coffee by then.


My bad, then. ;)

[Taxman71]

Preview of Homey's Good Morning tomorrow:

March 4, 1863: First draft dodger in U.S. history flees to Indian Territory.

[Okla-homey]

I was curious about the other cities I mentioned. So there were riots in other cities, just not as large or devasting as the one in NYC.

Wasn't there also some animosity toward the U.S. military by Irish immigrants and decendants about the military's treatment of them during the Mexican-American war that may have contributed to this?

There was widespread disdain for conscription and protests in many of the great Northern cities which had large newly-arrived immigrant populations, but no outright rioting anywhere but NYC.

another image from March 3, 1863 NYC.

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I'm not aware of of any mistreatment of Irish during the Mex War by the military, but that said, 19th c. Americans generally took a pretty dim view of the Irish in general. Some of it was because they were Catholics. Most of it was because they were willing to work cheap which drove wages down for everyone and because they were depicted as sub-human by political demagogues of that era.

As others have pointed out quite rightly, Irish troops fought valiantly in our Civil War. On both sides.

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69th NYSV going in at Gettysburg. Their chaplain is granting absolution from his horse out front.

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10th Tennessee, fighting at Dover just outside Ft Donelson NW of Nashville.