A Short History of Reconstruction [Updated Edition]

by Eric Foner

in 1862, the Confederacy enacted the first conscription laws in American history, including provisions that a draftee could avoid service by producing a substitute, and that one able-bodied white male would be exempted for every twenty slaves. This “class legislation” was deeply resented in the upcountry, for the cost of a substitute quickly rose far beyond the means of most white families, while the “twenty Negro” provision, a response to the decline of discipline on the plantations, allowed many overseers and planters sons to escape military service.