In July 1862 the 37th Congress climaxed its second session with passage of two laws that signaled the turn toward a harsher war policy. The first was the militia act under which the government subsequently called for a draft of nine-month men. This bill also empowered the president to enroll “persons of African descent” for “any war service for which they may be found competent"—including service as soldiers, a step that would horrify conservatives and that the administration was not yet prepared to take.
