Why did people in the North oppose the draft?

Answer 1

Many people did not want to be drafted because they did not wish to risk their lives to prevent the southern states from seceding from the union. It's perfectly understandable.
Probably, because they didn't want to get killed.

Answer 2

Southerners opposed conscription because of its suppression of voluntarism and its disproportionate impact on the poorest regions. Wealthy men could hire a substitute to enlist for them or pay $300 to be excused from the draft.

Answer 3

The conscription acts passed by the Confederacy in 1862 and by the Union in 1863 were unpopualr for several reasons. Here are some significant ones:

1. Conscription acts had never before existed in the US. Just the idea of forced enlistment, was contrary to US & Confederate ideals;

2. Each of the conscription acts had "loopholes" by which certain men could not be drafted;

3. In the North, a man could avoid conscription by paying the Federal government $300, or finding a substitute to take the draftees place; and

4. In the South, state governments administered the draft acts, and the Confederate governors often found loopholes to having friends skirt the draft. Additionally, slave owners of 20 or more slaves could not be drafted. As most men in the South did not own slaves, this became a morale problem.