DEVELOPMENTS IN THE SOUTH AND IN THE NORTH

Being a nation founded on the principle of state's rights was oftentimes a disadvantage for the Confederacy. Many Confederate soldiers who enlisted for one year in 1861 appeared ready to return home in 1862. General Robert E. Lee insisted that a system of conscription had to be introduced to ensure a steady supply of soldiers. In April 1862, the Confederate legislature passed laws requiring three years in the army for all white men from 18 to 35 (after the horrible losses of Antietam, this was extended to 45). Many advocates of state’s rights violently objected to these regulations. Three Southern governors tried to block the conscription law in their states, saying that only the individual states had the right to make such laws. In some sections of the South nearly 60 percent of available manpower never served in the army. The Confederacy also adopted a plan to pay plantation owners who released their slaves to serve in the army; this was largely resisted because it was economically harmful to slave owners.

By late 1862 severe shortages of food and other materials began to spread throughout the South. Prices skyrocketed. Many soldiers deserted the army to return home to help their families through these difficult times. Large numbers of deserters and those who had resisted the draft became a problem in some sections of the South, The Confederacy instituted an income tax in order to get needed income for the government. Under existing circumstances, the actual collection of this money was sometimes difficult.

Many similar tensions existed in the North. In 1863 a system of conscription was introduced, requiring service of all men from ages 20 through 45. As in the South, draft dodgers could be found in the North. A provision of the Northern draft law that was very unpopular to many allowed a drafted person to avoid service by hiring a substitute or by paying the government $300; many of the “replacement” soldiers were Irish immigrants. Draft riots took place in New York City in July 1863, with nearly 200 people dying in these protests. Many taking part in the riots were Irish-America ns, and many of those killed were black. Draft offices and other buildings were destroyed; Irish-Americans did not want to take part in a war that would free the slaves, whom they perceived would be their competitors for jobs.

The North also had trouble financing the war. In 1861 a federal income tax was instituted. Still short of money, the government began issuing “greenbacks” in 1862; this money, not hacked by gold, was considered official legal tender until the end of the war.

In every wartime setting in American history, the power of the executive has expanded. This was certainly true in the Civil War. President Lincoln assumed powers that no previous president had even considered. By executive order parts of Kentucky were placed under martial law for much of the war. Some Democrats in the North, nicknamed Copperheads, vigorously opposed the war, stating that it would lead to masses of freed slaves coming north and taking jobs. Copperheads were sometimes arrested, and three of them were actually deported from the North. Over 14,000 who opposed the war were imprisoned without trial. In several cases Lincoln ordered the writ of habeas corpus suspended.