Enrollment Act of 1863

Tue Mar 03, 1863

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Image: Recruiting poster from New York City printed by Baker & Godwin, June 23rd, 1863 [Wikipedia]

The Enrollment Act of 1863, passed on this day, was the first national conscription law in the United States, explicitly allowing people to avoid service by paying $300 or hiring a substitute to take their place.

The Enrollment Act was passed by the U.S. Congress during the Civil War to provide fresh manpower for the Union Army. It required the enrollment of every male citizen and those immigrants who had filed for citizenship, between 20 and 45 years of age, unless exempted by the Act.

In protest of the law, a “Song of the Conscripts” was written, distributed later at the 1863 New York City Draft Riots. One verse reads:

"We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more,

We leave our homes and firesides with bleeding hearts and sore,

Since poverty has been our crime, we bow to thy decree,

We are the poor who have no wealth to purchase liberty"