Enrollment Act
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Enrollment Act
Enrollment Act
Full title
An Act for enrolling and calling out the national Forces, and for other Purposes
Enacted by the 37th United States Congress
Effective
March 3, 1863
Citations
Stat.
12 Stat. 731
[1]
Legislative history
Major amendments
[2]
1. Enrollment Act of 1864 (13 Stat. 6 )
[3]
2. Enrollment Act of 1865 (13 Stat. 487 )
The Enrollment Act, 12 Stat. 731 [1], enacted March 3, 1863, also known as the Civil War Military Draft Act,[4]
was legislation passed by the United States Congress during the American Civil War to provide fresh manpower for
the Union Army. A form of conscription, the controversial act required 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. In some cities, particularly New York City, enforcement of
the act sparked civil unrest as the war dragged on, leading to the New York Draft Riots on July 13-16. It replaced the
previous Militia Act of 1862.
Enrollment Act
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Organization
The Provost Marshal General James Barnet Fry administered the
national implementation of the Enrollment Act and answered directly
to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Beneath Provost Marshal General
Fry were the State Acting Assistant Provost Marshal Generals. The
State Provost Marshal Generals were not authorized by the Enrollment
Act, but were appointed personally by James Fry to attend to matters in
each individual state. New York and Pennsylvania were the only states
that had more than one State Acting Assistant Marshal general; New
York had three and Pennsylvania had two. Each state was divided
along district lines with each district under the jurisdiction of an
enrollment board. The enrollment boards were headed by a district
provost marshal and also included a surgeon and a commissioner. Each
enrollment board employed clerks, deputies, and special agents as
needed. The enrollment boards divided themselves into sub-districts
along ward (in cities) and township (in rural areas) lines. In each
sub-district a census was conducted by an enrollment officer to
document every man eligible for the draft in the sub-district.
Recruiting poster from New York City printed by
Baker & Godwin, June 23, 1863
Causes of unrest
The policies of substitution and commutation were controversial
practices that allowed drafted citizens to opt out of service by either
furnishing a suitable substitute to take the place of the drafted, or
paying $300. Both of these provisions were created with the intention
of softening the effect of the draft on pacifists, the anti-draft
movement, and the propertied classes. The result however was general
public resentment of both policies. These two practices were major
points of contention among the general public and led directly to the
slogan "rich man's war, poor man's fight."
Substitution
Rioters and Federal troops clash as a result of the
1863 Enrollment Act
The policy of substitution was continued throughout the war. The
problem with substitution was that it provided substitutes with
powerful incentives to desert soon after enlisting. Career "jumpers" made a living off of enlisting as a substitute,
collecting their compensation, deserting before their units were dispatched to the front, and repeating the process.
This problem was well known to the military commanders who regularly saw the same recruits repeatedly. In
addition, troops furnished through substitution were considered to be of an inferior quality in comparison to regulars
and volunteers.
Enrollment Act
Commutation
Commutation (paying $300 to escape the draft) was created in an effort to keep substitution prices low. If
commutation were not instated, the price of a substitute would have quickly soared past $300. In addition to
suppressing substitution prices, commutation was intended to raise money for the war effort. While commutation did
raise war funds, it was often a criticism of the draft that it was better at raising money than troops. The
rationalization for commutation was that unwilling troops were ineffective, so the government may as well extract
funds from the unwilling if it couldn't get proficient service. Despite the good intentions behind commutation, it was
one of the most hated policies of the war.
1864 amendment
Congress passed an amendment to the Enrollment Act in 1864. Section 5 of the 1864 amendment limited the length
of an exemption from the draft due to payment of a commutation fee to one year; those drafted thenceforth were
required to serve or to furnish subtitutes.[5]
1865 amendment
Congress passed another amendment to the Enrollment Act on March 3, 1865; this is sometimes referred to itself as
the Enrollment Act of 1865. Section 21 of the Act (13 Stat. 490 [6]) imposed denationalization (loss of citizenship)
as a penalty for draft evasion or desertion.[7] Justice John Marshall Harlan II's dissent in Afroyim v. Rusk mentioned
the Enrollment Act of 1865 as an example of a law in which a person's citizenship could be revoked without his or
her consent and which the Congress of the time did not regard as unconstitutional.[8]
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
http:/ / memory. loc. gov/ cgi-bin/ ampage?collId=llsl& fileName=012/ llsl012. db& recNum=0762
http:/ / memory. loc. gov/ cgi-bin/ ampage?collId=llsl& fileName=013/ llsl013. db& recNum=035
http:/ / memory. loc. gov/ cgi-bin/ ampage?collId=llsl& fileName=013/ llsl013. db& recNum=0516
Delehant 1967, p. 1132 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=rpOkMyVjGKQC& pg=PA1132)
Berlin 1982, p. 14 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=MdQ9AAAAIAAJ& pg=PA14)
http:/ / memory. loc. gov/ cgi-bin/ ampage?collId=llsl& fileName=013/ llsl013. db& recNum=0519
Matteo 1997, p. 35 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=40vcRpwqVXkC& pg=PA35)
Afroyim v. Rusk, 387 U.S. 253 (http:/ / www. law. cornell. edu/ supct/ html/ historics/ USSC_CR_0387_0253_ZS. html) (1967).
Bibliography
• Berlin, Ira (1982). The Black Military Experience. CUP Archive.
• Delehant, John W. (December 1967). "A Judicial Revisitation Finds Kneedler v. Lane Not So 'Amazing'". ABA
Journal 53: 1132.
• Matteo, Henry S. (1997). Denationalization V. "the Right to Have Rights": The Standard of Intent in Citizenship
Loss. University Press of America.
• Murdock, Eugene C. (1971). One Million Men: The Civil War Draft in the North.
• Murdock, Eugene C. (1967). Patriotism Limited 1862-1865: The Civil War Draft and the Bounty System.
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Enrollment Act
External links
• Congressional Record (http://www.yale.edu/glc/archive/962.htm) - A full text of version of the 1863
Enrollment Act
• Commentary on the 1863 Enrollment Act (http://www.answers.com/topic/
enrollment-act-1863-the-conscription-act) on Answers.com
• Enrollment Act Riots (http://www.mrlincolnandnewyork.org/inside.asp?ID=91&subjectID=4) on
MrLincolnAndNewYork.org
• Map of Riot Locations (http://www.mrlincolnandnewyork.org/photo_credits.asp?photoID=487&
subjectID=4&ID=91) - "Mr Lincoln and New York" web site (under grant from The Lehrman Institute)
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Article Sources and Contributors
Article Sources and Contributors
Enrollment Act Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=497679776 Contributors: Aldis90, Americasroof, Archibaldpercival, Cybercobra, Glennwells, GoldRingChip, Int21h,
Kazvorpal, Neutrality, Nyttend, Quant18, Scott Mingus, TGihring, Tim!, Twang, 4 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:US-GreatSeal-Obverse.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:US-GreatSeal-Obverse.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: U.S. Government
File:New York enrollment poster june 23 1863.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:New_York_enrollment_poster_june_23_1863.jpg License: Public Domain
Contributors: United States Army
File:New York Draft Riots - fighting.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:New_York_Draft_Riots_-_fighting.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: AnRo0002,
Aude, Darwinius, Infrogmation, Moulder, Urban
License
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