Greeting: America and the Draft · Episode 3 of 12 · 23 min
Three Hundred Dollars: How Money Bought a Civil War Exit
In the Civil War, three hundred dollars, about a year's wages, could buy a man out of the draft. The episode gives the origin of American conscription's central unfairness: the Confederate draft of 1862 with its substitute system and "Twenty-Negro Law," the Union Enrollment Act of 1863 with its $300 commutation clause, and the lethal, racist New York City Draft Riots. The death toll is flagged as contested.
Who's who
- Jefferson Davis+1 more episodeConfederate president whose administration ran the unpopular draft
- Abraham Lincoln+7 more episodesPresident who signed the 1863 Enrollment Act
- John Summerfield StaplesSubstitute Lincoln paid for in 1864 as a representative recruit
Where it happens
- New York City+13 more episodesSite of the July 1863 Draft Riots
- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania+1 more episodeCampaign from which troops were rushed to quell the riots
Timeline
- April 1862Confederate Congress passes the first national draft, allowing substitutes
- October 1862Second Conscription Act adds the Twenty-Negro Law exemption
- March 1863Lincoln signs the Enrollment Act with its $300 commutation clause
- July 1863New York City Draft Riots last four days
- February 1864Union amendment adds a path for religious conscientious objectors
- December 1863Confederacy abolishes the substitute system
Still debated
The best-supported Draft Riot death toll is about 119-120, though higher claims circulate. Historians read the $300 fee's purpose differently, and how much substitution actually skewed who served is debated, as is whether the 1864 recognition of objectors was principled or pragmatic.
← PreviousThe Militia and the Meeting House: Colonial Militias and the First ObjectorsNext →Little Groups of Neighbors: The WWI Draft Board and the Men It Jailed
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