The Civil War Draft, Costs, and POW Camps

1. Notes #8 The Draft, Costs & POW Camps

2. By 1863, the Union had a difficult time recruiting soldiers to fight in the Civil War, so they raised the enlistment bounty from $100 to $300. Congress passed a conscription (draft) law which required all 20- 45 year old men to put their names in a lottery and serve if their names were drawn. A wealthy person could get out of the draft, if called, by paying the government or paying someone to take his place. (remember MN notes) 1

3. The Confederacy also imposed a draft law, but they exempted people who owned more than 20 slaves. This caused resentment among smaller farmers.

4. The Union Paying for the War In 1861, the Union issued the first income tax- a tax on earnings- which raised about 55 million in revenue. 62% of the Union’s war effort was financed by war bonds. But they were unable to raise the needed amount of money, so they printed $400 million in paper money known as “greenbacks” This caused inflation. But the economy in the North did not collapse due to wartime demands for products.

5. The Confederacy Paying for the War The South also printed massive amounts of paper money. But it did not have the same results as the north. Inflation became a problem-an increase in price and a decrease in the value of money. The average family food bill in the South increased from $6.65 a month in 1861 to $68 by mid-1863. Over the course of the war, prices rose 9,000 percent in the South.

6. NO MONEY NO SUPPLIES! Troops often had to scour the battlefield after victories to find unused ammunition. Even when they had needed supplies, getting them to the troops was difficult. Unlike the North, they did not have a complex system of railroads.

7. Portrait of Pvt. George A. Stryker, New York Regiment, U.S.A. The average age of a soldier during the Civil War was under 21. Union soldiers were called “Yankees”, “Yanks”, or “Billy Yanks” by their Confederate enemies. Confederate soldiers were called “Rebels”, Rebs” or “Johnny Rebs” by Union soldiers. Portrait of Pvt. Edwin Francis Jemison, 2nd Louisiana Regiment, C.S.A.

8. Prison conditions were awful in both Confederate and Union prisoner of war camps. The most infamous POW camp of the Civil War was Andersonville in Georgia. Library of Congress

9. One in every three Union Soldiers died of starvation or disease atAndersonville. By the end of the war, approximately 30,000 Union prisoners had died in Confederate camps and 25,000 Confederates had died in Union prisons. Survivor of the Andersonville Prisoner of War Camp