The Enrollment Act
In March 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed a controversial bill into law, titled ”An Act for enrolling and calling out the National Forces, and for other purposes,” or the Enrollment Act.
Intending to generate more manpower for the war effort, this required all able-bodied men between the ages of 20 and 45 to register at local draft boards for potential military service. Draftees would be selected by a lottery system, and presidential appointees would establish draft quotas for each congressional district; the quotas were to be based on population and the number of men already serving in the district.
The law’s most divisive provision allowed men to buy their way out of the draft by either paying a $300 commutation fee or hiring substitutes to serve in their place. This intended to give war dissenters an option to avoid service, but the provision sparked outrage because most men could not afford such a high fee.
Congressman Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania declared, “(This law) is a rich man’s bill, made for him who can raise his $300, and against him who cannot raise that sum.” Lincoln tried setting an example by hiring a substitute, but that did little to satisfy the detractors. The provision was later repealed.
The Enrollment Act ironically prompted more men to volunteer for service since volunteers were offered bounties that draftees were not. The law also helped working men who could hire substitutes to avoid military service and continue providing for their families.
However, the commutation and substitute provisions mostly led to resentment and resistance. Many hired substitutes were either mentally defective or physically unable to serve. Other substitutes took the money and deserted the army, then repeated the scheme by hiring themselves out again.
In addition, many northerners opposed the overall notion of a military draft. Workers feared that they would be pulled from jobs that would be taken by freed slaves coming north. Many resentful immigrants noted that they came to America because of the promises of the Homestead Act of 1862, not to serve in the military. And many argued that compulsory military service violated civil liberties. On the whole, only six percent of Federal military personnel were recruited by draft over the course of the war, and two-thirds of these draftees hired substitutes.
