The Union and the Confederacy armies instituted the first federal military draft in American history during the Civil War. In the wake of military losses and a shortage of soldiers, the Union resorted to a federal draft in March 1863, almost a year after the Confederacy. President Lincoln signed The Enrollment Act on March 3, 1863, requiring the enrollment of every male citizen and those immigrants who had filed for citizenship between ages twenty and forty-five. Federal agents established a quota of new troops due from each congressional district.
well, the laws differ from the Union (North) and the Confederate States of America (south). Mostly on either side you could pay a substitute to go to war for you. In the south, if you owned 15 or more slaves, you did not have to go to war. in the north, free blacks were drafted as equal men, but of corse in the south slaves were not allowed guns, in fear they might revolt! Hope this helps! :)
President Grover Cleveland (22nd & 24th President) who was first elected in 1884 avoided the Civil War conscription by paying a substitute to serve in his place in the Union Army. This was entirely legal under the Conscription Act of 1863 and made President Cleveland the U.S.'s first "draft dodger."
The enrollment act of 1863- made every able bodied white male citizen ages 20-45 eligible for the draft into the Union Army. Confederacy's conscription act- all able bodied white men aged 18-35 were required to serve in the military for 3 years.
The North responded to the growing demand for fresh troops during the civil war by creatinng conscription laws in 1863.
The Conscription Act of 1917
27 January 1916: the Military Service Act.
The Conscription Act brought on the New York City Draft Riots of 1863.
racial backlash against the Emancipation Proclamation.
With many volunteers due to end their service to the Confederate army, Major General James Longstreet was summoned to Richmond to provide his input on the contemplated conscription act and new policies related to volunteer enlistments. The 1862 Confederate Conscription Act would be the first time in America that draft laws would be enacted. In 1863, the Union also passed a conscription act.
the Conscription Act of 1862 was a military draft issued during the Civil War
The North had to resort to conscription in 1863, because men were leaving and going absent without leave. More pressing, however, was the fact that voluntary enlistments were not keeping up with the Union's military needs.
The Enrollment Act of 1863. First Federal draft law mandating military enrollment for conscription into military service in The United States.
On February 17, 1864, the Confederacy passed its final conscription act of the US Civil War. The new act expanded the ages of potential draftees.
North
Under the Draft Act of 1863, it was legal to hire a "substitute" who had not been drafted. A man could also pay $300 (a large sum at the time) to avoid conscription.
The Enrollment Act of 1863, sometimes called the Conscription Act or the Draft Act. It contained a provision that a man who was drafted could get out of it by either hiring someonem else to serve in his place, or by paying a $300 fee (which is in the neighborhood of $10,000 in today's money).
Grover Cleveland. He opted to pay a substitute to do his service. Although this was legal, under the Conscription Act of 1863, it was a bad law which caused much resentment in the ranks, and brought some very poor material into the armies.
The law that forced people into military service during the Civil War was the Enrollment Act of 1863, also known as the Civil War military draft. It required all male citizens and immigrants to register for conscription to serve in the Union Army if needed. Those drafted could also pay a commutation fee or provide a substitute to avoid service.