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Because both sides originally thought it would be a short war, and settled for short enlistment periods. So both armies had to recruit large numbers quickly when it became clear that the war was going to last longer than expected.

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14y ago
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10y ago

Volunteers were becoming less than the armies of both sides required.

The Confederacy enacted a draft law on April 16, 1862. The first law authorized the conscription of males between the ages of 18 to 35. This was later extended to ages between 17 to 50. The law exempted Southerners who owned 20 or more slaves. This exemption did not sit well with many Southerners.

The Union passed a draft law in March, 1863. Exemptions were allowed if a draftee could pay the Government $300 or find a man to replace himself. The Northern draft caused the largest civil insurrection in US history in New York City in July 1863. The North gathered approximately $15 million for the former exemption. Lincoln had to send 20,000 troops and howitzer canons to stop the hundreds of rioters.

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13y ago

The need for soldiers drove the Confederacy to implement conscription in 1862. As in the North, the stream of volunteers was diminishing as casualty rates were climbing. The North would begin conscription in 1863.

The laws featured loopholes for the wealthy that allowed them to hire substitutes or pay doctors to mark them as unfit for duty. This left the burden on the less fortunate. See the links below.

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14y ago

It was considered unconstitutional, and it was possible to buy a substitute or exemption.

It was possible to buy a substitute or exemption.

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12y ago

the south needed more troops and less citizens so they passed this act

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Q: Why did the south pass the draft law during the civil war?
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Continue Learning about Military History

Why did the civil war start exactly?

Many reasons but basically the federal government was trying to pass laws that the south believed should be left to the states to decide for themselves


Why was the Transcontinental railroad not built before the civil war?

It was one of the big disagreements between North and South - the North wanted the new railroad to pass through Chicago, and the South wanted it to go the New Mexico route. To get Congress to allow the Northern route, it had to appease the South with concessions. This led to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed each new state to vote whether to be slave or free. The first state that tried this was Kansas. Nobody realised that every bully-boy in America would now descend on thinly-populated Kansas to intimidate voters and try to invalidate the results. This was 'Bleeding Kansas', and many have identified it as a curtain-raiser for the Civil War proper.


What admendment after the civil war caused many southern states to pass black codes that allowed African American have the right to vote?

the 15 admendment


What was the most serious mistake of reconstruction on the south?

Compromising with the old Southern aristocracy, allowing them to seize control and pass the Jim Crow legislation that largely negated emancipation of the slaves leaving them little more than poor, second class citizens for the next century. In the end the Civil War was not resolved until the Civil Rights Movement of the late 50s and early 60s succeeded in repealing these Jim Crow Laws that held the Black population down.


What did the south feared the antislavery states would do?

use their majority in Congress to pass a law/Constitutional amendment ending slavery

Related questions

When did the south pass a draft law?

The South passed a draft law during the American Civil War in April 1862. The law required all white males aged 18 to 35 to serve in the Confederate Army for three years.


Why did Congress pass laws protecting civil-rights during Reconstruction?

To Abolish black codes in the south.


Why did state governors in the South oppose the Confederate government during the US Civil War?

There was one particular issue that caused friction between Confederate President Jefferson Davis. That issue was the Confederate draft. It needs to be remembered that on both sides of the war, state governors were responsible for recruiting volunteers. When the South was forced to pass draft laws in 1862, some Southern governors believed it was unconstitutional.


Why did the governments of the north and south pass laws creating the draft?

Because they both needed men in a hurry.


What did congress pass the first of during the civil war?

Income Tax laws (later ruled unconstitutional; made constitutional through the 16th Amendment in 1916); military "draft" laws (conscription).


What laws did Bismarck pass during his Kulturkampf?

civil marriage


When did the confederate congress pass a draft law?

The confederates didn't pass the draft law, it was the Union


Why did the nation's business boom by pass the south?

There were several reasons why the country's business boom bypassed the South including a lack of capital in the South. The South was also recovering from the devastation of the Civil War.


Where did the fighting in the Far West take place during the Civil War?

Most of the battles during the Civil War in the West took place in Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia.


What US Fort was established at Apache Pass Arizona during the US Civil War?

Fort Bowie.


When did the union and confederate pass draft laws?

maybe


What During apartheid in South Africa black South Africans were?

Answer this question forced to carry pass books at all times …